The Perfect Tree

We decided to get a real X-Mas tree this year after a few years of using artificial.  I told Dan that it was one of the first Christmases in a long time where we didn't have to worry about one of the kids pulling the tree over or breaking ornaments.  And next year Evelyn will be right at the mischievous stage so I thought we should embrace this year when she was still crawling and not getting into a lot.  The kids were excited to hunt for the perfect tree, and we found one!  We were looking for a 14 foot tree, but we were told the area churches beat us to it!  (This was a pretty small tree farm).  Ours was about 12 feet, and looked beautiful decorated.  It is going to be hard to go back to an artificial- although still finding pine needles in the house in February is not fun!

Dan and Luca pulling the tree to the top of the hill where the truck was parked!

Gingerbread House

I realize it is Valentine's Day, and I am posting about gingerbread houses... but anyway back in December Lauren had a school party and Grandma Pam came up to help her with her gingerbread house.  She was really excited to see grandma and her house was pretty sweet:)  It didn't last long at our house before her sister and brother had demolished it!  I am heading to her school for a Valentine's party this afternoon... hoping you will hear about that before April!

Catching Up

I am going to attempt to bring this blog back up to date. The easiest way for me to blog is using my phone or iPad, so I am doing these posts solely with pics taken from my phone. I apologize in advance for picture quality;). Back in November, Dan and I headed to Cozumel with some friends. We had a great time. I would say the best part was going to bed early and sleeping late! The sunshine was great too!

The kids came with me to get pedicures before I left.  They showed their fancy toes off at gymnastics:)

Dan was set on watching the Packer game while we were there.  Turns out there was a Bears game on at the same time, and that is what they broadcast everywhere.  Luckily, Dan asked the right person, and they opened up the nightclub for us to watch the game!  We had the whole place to ourselves, so our friend Gary had the tough job of tending bar:)

Adjusting

Adjusting. We are all adjusting to life with a kindergartner. Lauren started kindergarten on Tuesday. She was cautiously excited for her first day. No tears at drop off, but it sure felt like a long day at home without her. And when I picked her up, she told me she didn't like it... Not what I wanted to hear. I thought every kid loved kindergarten. I am hoping once she adjusts to the schedule and makes some friends her feelings will change. She has a great teacher so I feel good about that. I made her try hot lunch just so she would know how to do it if she decides later in the year she wants to try it again. But for now she is adamant she wants a cold lunch (so she can avoid talking to the lunch ladies... oh, my shy child).

Here she is all smiles by her locker. This was for orientation last week.

 

And her first day of school pictures...



Did you notice she lost her first tooth just in time to start school? Growing too fast:)

And now my little Ella. How is she old enough for preschool??? As you can see from the pictures, she was extremely excited to start school. No worries for her. I am sure it helps that she gets an extra hour of sleep, as she doesn't start until 9. And she is at the same preschool that we brought Lauren to for two years, and has the same teacher! Ella will go Tuesdays and Thursdays this year.

She could hardly contain her excitement walking into school that morning.

Ready to start her day!

County Fair

We had a great time at the Barron County Fair again this year.  It was at the end of July, and it was VERY hot!  The kids love the animal barns, and I don't think they believe me when I tell them I used to bring pigs to the fair!  I think next year we will have to watch some of the animal judging so they can see the kids leading their animals around the arenas.  Right now they think the animals just go to the fair for us to see:)  Of course we indulged in some yummy fair food and did some carnival rides before we called it a day.

 We met a very friendly Llama, and the owner thought the kids should give her a hug.  Lauren and Ella were game...

Green Bay: Zoo and a Wedding

As I mentioned, we were in Green Bay for a wedding back in July.  We stayed at a great waterpark, and headed to the zoo one morning.  I love this zoo because it is small enough to make it all the way through in half a day, but they still have some great features like feeding the giraffes!  Lauren was an old pro, Ella was a bit more nervous, and Luca wanted nothing to do with them.  Dan held him and helped feed with him, but he wasn't really into it. 

We also took time to ride the carousel since the train ride was out of commission.  Luca wasn't real into this either, so i sat with him.  First time ever one of my children has opted to sit on the bench on the carousel! 

Because it was so chilly this week (hard to believe we had that cold spell now) Evelyn wore my favorite sweater romper that I bought in Paris while pregnant with Ella! 

And some pictures from the wedding...

Water Park Weekends

We have had two out-of-town weddings this summer, and made the most of them by staying for the weekend at waterparks.  The first was in Wausau, the second in Green Bay.  Both were for customers of Dan's.  The kids LOVE waterparks, and it is getting much more manageable now that Lauren and Ella can do the kids section of slides by themselves and Luca is loving the water!  Dan and I take turns sitting with Evelyn and things work out pretty well.

 

 

 

Ella and Lauren mastered the log jam... Ella needs a hand since she isn't tall enough to reach the ropes!

 

First outdoor wedding. I have found these are best for the kids, they can run around like crazy and people think it is normal or that they are dancing:)