Girls Day Out

Today was the second Saturday that I have taken Maddie into Madison to do some shopping and run errands.  Can I just say that she is the BEST shopper a mom could ask for?!?  She's the best.  Maddie not only gets excited about going to another store, but she also helps me find a parking spot! 

Today we ran to about 5 different stores and she was a peach!  I can already see that this is going to become our "thing" for Saturday's in the future. 

On the way home, Maddie took a nap surrounded by shopping bags, her hair in pig tails with frilly bows, bright pink sunglasses and completely zonked out.  I wish I had taken a picture. 

Jack and Nathan were busy at home changing the oil on the tractor...er "lawn tractor", getting the oil changed on the Jeep and fixing the Tivo.  They were busy too. 

Now we're of to Pizza Hut.  Not my pick, but Jack got a "book it" for a free personal pizza.  I remember when I was a kid I would get these too, but I got a huge pin, like the size of my face.  Now, they just give the kids a certificate to turn in.  Maybe the pins were too expensive...or maybe pins are totally 90's!  Anyway, Jack's excited and Nathan's happy because he likes Pizza Hut. 

Have a good weekend! 

Oh yea, wish me luck on Monday...I start my new gig.  I have tiny baby butterflies in my tummer.  Not huge one's, but they're still there :)

Happy Fall

It's been a crazy busy couple of months for this fam!  School started, new job, party planning and more!  I'm hoping to get back to blogging on a regular basis again.  Don't hold me to that though. 

Jack's having fun and doing great in school.  He really likes his class and his 1st grade teacher.  He comes home with very funny stories, which he tells in great detail!  He loves to write and illustrate his own stories, which is incredibly cute. 

Ms. Maddie is cracking us up.  She says the funniest damn things, like referring to her Uncle George as "Curious George" and getting upset with us when we correct her.  Oh, and she found some attitude somewhere!  Like the other day when she asked for more chocolate and Nathan said "no", Maddie turned and looked at him and said, "I was talkin' to Momma"!  Ok then...  :)

On Saturday we took the day off from responsibility and party planning and traveled "north" for some much needed outside time.  We went to Grandpa Dave and Grandma Debbie's land for the day.  The kids spent some time riding the four wheelers and Nathan and I went for a hike.  It was a great fall day and was just what I needed to get rid of my stress...for the day. 

Halloween was  really fun this year. Jack and Maddie dressed up as a Cowboy and Cowgirl, which was Maddie's idea.  Maddie was able to actually trick or treat and understand what she was doing.  Jack ran with his friends and would always grab a piece of candy for his sister at the houses that left a bowl on the step.  I dressed up as a cowgirl too.  It was fun...and cold, which I guess is expected for October in Wisconsin. 

Thanks for checking in on us!

Your mom goes to college...Kiwi College

Ever thought about making your house "green"?  Not the actual color green, think Eco Green.  I found this great site that offers free webinars on topics about going green, eating organically, raising organic/chemical free families and more. 

Check out the free webinars.  I participated in my first webinar last week, "Inspiring Health - Robyn O'Brien".  The session had a lot of great information about additives in the American food supply, food allergies and ideas to slowly incorporate organic and chemical free foods into your homes. 

You can check out this session and many more here:

http://www.kiwimagonline.com/college/

I think most of you know that we're pretty conscious about what we feed our kids.  Even Jack knows all about "high fructose corn syrup" and how we don't like it.  It's pretty funny to hear him talk about why it's bad and what we can choose that's better. 

I think it's great that Jack and Maddie would 9 times out of 10 reach for fruit over cookies. 

I hope you find some helpful information. 

Happy Learning!

Fresh from the farm!

Our kids generally don't complain too much about the food we make, but if there's ever a complaint, I just say "it's from our farm, isn't that cool?" It usually works, they eat, and we're all happy!

Tonight I didn't really have dinner planned...shocker, I know. I ended up using zucchini and tomatoes from our farm share, which were great! I made a "Mexindi" dish and it ended up being pretty tasty. I hate seeing our vegetables go to waste, so I try to use them any way I can. Tonight I ended up cutting the zucchini into little cubes and mixed them into some salsa, rice, ground cumin, curry powder, and chili powder. I pureed some black beans (to the consistency of re fried beans) and mixed the beans in for our protein. Put it all together and you get "Mexindi" casserole (I hate the word casserole, but can't think of a better word) :) I topped it all off with a little bit of cheddar cheese just to hold it all together. Yum!

Over dinner we were talking about the "Peach Truck" that's coming on Tuesday. In early July I picked up 25 pounds of peaches and 5 pounds of blueberries from the peach truck. I had all intentions of baking with both, but didn't have to. We ate ALL of it! I love having fresh fruit in the house. The kids loved the blueberries on their yogurt in the morning and Jack loved his peach each day in his lunch. We'll get the same thing on Tuesday!

If you're interested in getting fresh fruit visit:

www.tree-ripe.com

The site will give you the times/location of their deliveries. They also have orange and grapefruit deliveries later in the year. The lines get long so arrive early and ENJOY!

Father's Day Weekend - 2011

So "Blogger" had something against me blogging about our Father's Day weekend. The site just wouldn't let me post the pictures. I decided to try it again today and it let me. So, almost a month later, here are some pictures from our Father's Day Weekend. Above is a picture of Grandpa Kyle opening his "toes" from Jack and Maddie. Grandpa Kyle is always saying that he's going to eat the kids toes, so for Fathers Day we made him a jar of toes. Jack even completed the gift by adding a bottle of ketchup and mustard. The jar was filled with Brazillian nuts. Jack was giggling so hard when Grandpa was opening his gift.
Nathan really enjoys cooking. So we filled a bucket full of some of Nathan's favorite foods and spices. Fresh mozzarella cheese, cured salami, capers, curry powder, horseradish powder, wine, aged Parmesan, aged cheddar, figs, balsamic vinegar from Vom Fass and more! Nathan loved opening all the goodies. The kids also love all this stuff (minus the wine), so it didn't last long. Thanks to some breathable cheese paper that I found, we still have some of the cheese left. If any of you are cheese lovers, especially aged cheese, this cheese paper is great!
Awww, Grandpa Dave and the kiddos! Such a cute picture.

We had a picnic lunch along the Wisconsin River in Stevens Point. We had a ton of food and enjoyed great company. The kids were super excited because they got to go fishing!

Jack and Grandpa Kyle fishing. Grandpa Kyle LOVES fishing, so being able to take his grand kids fishing is extra special. We were all surprised at how long the kids wanted to fish. They really had a nice time. Below is Maddie and Grandpa Dave. This was Maddie's first fishing experience. I think she liked holding the pole the most. At one point Grandpa Kyle dropped a worm in her hand and she flipped it out of her hand like it was hot. It was pretty funny to see the look on her face! A great weekend was had by all. Happy Father's Day!

Wowza..What a Wonderful Weekend!

Fun in the sun pretty much sums up our weekend.

Friday night was spent on the patio with friends and the kids swam in the pool.

Saturday we took our first trip of the summer to the Sauk City pool. Jack and Maddie had a blast swimming in the big pool. Jack ran into a bunch of his friends. It seems wherever we go, he knows someone. It's great, a friend around every corner. Saturday afternoon was spent with our great friends Jeff, Liz and Moose! We dined alfresco and watched the fireworks.

What a Bea-U-tiful day!

Jack and Maddie were totally worn out on Sunday morning. We had to drag them to the breakfast table to eat. After breakfast they both fell asleep again! Sunday evening was spent with more great friends, Lori and Lauren! The kids had fun playing in the water and chasing each other around the yard. Nathan, Lori and I enjoyed good food, drinks and entertainment from the next door neighbors ;)

Monday was NOT another case of the Monday's! We had F-U-N. We slept in, well, the kids and I did. Nathan got up bright and early and was waiting for us to get up to go hiking. He finally woke us up at 8:45. 8:45! Yes, I got to sleep in until 8:45! I couldn't believe it either. Anyway...we woke up, got ready and piled in the jeep to go hiking. We went for a 2.5 mile hike at "Steinke Basin" and it was great! We then took a drive to Devil's Lake State Park and decided to go home, pack a picnic, and head back to Devil's Lake. Nathan was able to rent a kayak and explore the lake while the kids and I sat on the beach, swam and played in the sand. It was so fun to watch the kids play in the sand and explore the shells and rocks.

All of this fun and no pictures to show! Oh well. I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July weekend! We can't wait until next year!

Kindergarten - Jack's Last Day

On Jack's last day of kindergarten his class put on a show for the parents. They sang all the songs they had learned throughout the year and put on a few skits. It was SO cute to see Jack with all of his classmates. I got a bit teary eyed during one of the songs, but held it together.

Jack has done such a great job his first year of school. He's mastered math, spelling, and is a terrific reader. He'll read anything he can get his hands on. Jack also loves to write stories. He writes notes to his friends, to us and also writes little stories to go along with pictures that he draws. He's turning into quite the little author! Also on the last day of school Jack received the "prolific writer" award! We're very proud of him.

Look at that little smile!

Such a great day and I'm so happy that both Nathan and I were able to be at school to see Jack. We had a great time! Congrats Jack on a very successful year of Kindergarten.

Jack is already enjoying his summer. He goes to "Kids Club" during the day and is loving it! They do art projects, play sports, play games, and EAT! He's having a blast. Tomorrow, "summer school" starts. It's not really summer school, but it's classes that we registered Jack for. He'll be playing soccer, flag football, art classes, etc., he's really looking forward to it.

Here's to a great summer filled with lots of fun memories.

Cheers!

Maddie's 2nd Birthday Party

WHOOO's Turning TWO?

Happy 2nd Birthday Maddie!!

It's hard to believe that our baby girl is already two years old. It's such a cliche to say "that time goes so fast", but it's so true. It feels slow and "every day" during the week, but when I sit back and think, it sure does go by quickly.

Maddie is such a sweet girl. She's happy go lucky with a skip in her step. She continues to amaze us each day with hers sense up humor, her love for her brother and her words. Maddie is truly a joy...except in the morning. Crankiness must be an inherited gene and I must confess that she gets that from me. Poor Nathan and Jack, their girls aren't very happy campers in the morning. Oh well...good thing there's an afternoon and evening for us to really shine :)

This year I planned an owl party for Maddie. I had fun making Maddie's birthday banner and decorations. We had a treat table with all sorts of sweets. Maddie loved seeing all the candy and treats on the table. Thank you to Grandma Jo (my momma) for coming to help me prepare.

Here are a few photos of the party decorations!

Maddie had a lot of fun at her party. She was a little confused that she now had to hold up two fingers to show her age. She wasn't very happy when we told her that she was two. She said, "no, my one". I told her to get used to it and that women don't ever like to tell their age, I guess it's true all our lives, not just when we get older :)

Enjoy the photos of Maddie, family and friends. Thanks Daddy and Grandpa Dave for taking such great photos to capture the day. The party was a HOOT!

La-ti-da...just strolling through with my juice and my mustache...have you seen my brother?

Here he is!

AND...here's Maddie to inspect all the goodies and owls!!!!

Spring Break - 2011

So I'm not sure how it's been so long since I've blogged, but here we go. We recently spent a few days in Chicago for our Spring Break. Last year we went to Disney World and this year we wanted to stick a bit closer to home. We decided on Chicago! We've never been there with the kids and really wanted to go to the Museum of Science and Industry and the Shedd Aquarium. We had a blast. The above picture was taken by Nathan out of our hotel window. We had a great view of the Chicago River and the city.

Our first day in the city we decided to explore. Here's a picture of the bean at Millennium Park. It was fun to see so many people in the park and enjoying the beautiful day. We spent a couple of hours here. We walked around the paths and let the kids run around.

Miss Maddie patiently waiting for the aquatic show at the Shedd Aquarium. I think in this picture she's showing us how the dolphins jump. Maddie loves animals and gets so excited to make the sounds of each animal. Our favorite is the elephant sound!

Nathan took a lot of great pictures of the dolphins, whales and sea lion. Jack had show and tell the second day back from spring break so it was nice that he was able to take some pictures of our trip in and show his friends.

Here's Jack looking through a periscope. He was so interested in the history of this submarine. He asked so many questions and was really trying to soak it all in. We spent a lot of time at this exhibit in the museum.

CUTEST PICTURE EVER! I love this picture of my Jack. He was so excited to get a turn to stand in here and take a picture.

Maddie wasn't as excited as Jack. I don't think she understood the concept :)

On our trip to Chicago we decided to do public transportation. It was great and I highly recommend it. We were a little nervous to take our luggage and big stroller on the L but all was good. We're weren't in the way like we thought we would be. We took the city bus to our destinations in the city and that was great too. Nobody had an issue with our big stroller and there were lots of other families with kids too. It sure beat dealing with the traffic and trying to navigate the city.

We're already talking about our next trip to Chicago.

We ended our little vacation with a visit with friends and family in Milwaukee.

The Children's Museum

On Saturday morning we took a little day trip to the Children's Museum. It had been awhile since we'd been here, so everything seemed new again, especially for Maddie. She was wide eyed looking at the kids and activities to explore.
Maddie loved visiting with and talking to this little turtle. She was so cute. She kept on saying, "turtle, turtle" and pointing to him. We got a kick out of this picture because the turtle is also looking at Nathan to take the picture.
I think she would have gotten in the tank, had we let her.
Jack gravitated right to the art table. There were a stack of wood "fossils" for the kids to color over and make an imprint. Jack had fun seeing what each picture would turn into. Maddie had fun with this for about a minute, then it was back to the turtle and fish.
Jack was actually inside a hole in this table building things. It was pretty neat to see all the kids building different things.

Jack got right to building at this station. This structure turned into a truck. It was pretty neat. Maddie is looking down a glass tube that goes all the way down to the main entrance of the museum.
At least one of us is looking in this picture. This is a long walk way through a dinosaur skeleton. We were high up in the air on this. It was funny because there was a bunch of kids behind us that were using the bones as monkey bars while Nathan was trying to take the picture.
Peek-a-boo. I have no idea how Jack found this secret passage way under the bridge, but he ended up crawling through a tiny hole to get on the other side. Nathan snapped the picture just in time.
Maddie couldn't quite figure out how to get through, but she got a kick out of seeing Jack through the hole.
Jack and Maddie are standing on the back of a vegetable truck being driven by a mule. All the kids wanted to sit on the mule, but mine just wanted to ride. (It wasn't a real mule, but still creepy looking)
My, what big coconuts you have...or whatever these little nooks are. Jack jumped in and Maddie went right in after him. It looked like a nice place to sit and read a book...but not with a million kids running around.

We had a great time at the Museum and will be sure to go again soon.