O Christmas Tree!

Thanksgiving was over. We made it back from Nana's and of course the kids know what the next step in the holiday process is....Putting up the Christmas Tree!

Last year we decided not to put any ornaments on the tree because Kate was so.....busy. Instead we let the kids make ornaments and we decorated with those. It actually turned out quite nice. We strung popcorn...and that was nice until I found Kate eating it off the string :). Our tree ended up fully decorated with beautiful creations from the kids.

Well, this year we decided to get the ornaments out and keep the less breakable ones to the bottom for Kate and all the others to the top for the big kids.

All 3 were so excited and could hardly wait for Daddy to fix the strings of lights at the top of the tree that were not working for the past 2 years. Time was spent playing in the tree tub and looking in the ornament bin.

Finally it was time...let the decorating begin!

Kate started with her favorite ornament. A wooden rocking horse....she did great getting it on the branch all by herself.

Then, it was Grace's turn. She chose an Ariel ornament...the one that sings :).

Finally, it was Jack's turn. He picked the Weiner-mobile ornament....funny :)



Then it was a free for all. I tried my hardest to keep up with the kids. My job was to unwrap the ornaments and pass them out...making sure no one got to put on more ornaments than the others. We stopped many times to talk about where an ornament came from, whose ornament it was, why we got it....I love that part. There are MANY ornaments on the tree that were mine when I was a little girl. Grace loved being able to put my childhood ornaments on the tree just like I did when I was little. 

Finally, it was time to put the star on the tree. Jack and Grace thought it was would be fun to have Kate do it because she has never gotten to put the star up on the very top. So, with help from Daddy the star was placed on the top of the tree and it was done...until Kate started re-arranging her ornaments!



So, now we patiently wait for Santa to fill our stockings and put some presents under the tree. Kate is not too sure about the whole Santa coming to her house thing. A patient asked her if Santa was coming to her house and she very boldly said "NO WAY"....obviously we won't be going to visit Santa at the mall this year too! If you ask Kate what Santa is bringing her she says, "toys and bubbles"...He just better leave them somewhere for us to pick up because he is NOT coming to her house!

Football!

Looking pretty tough mister!

Ok....not so tough! My favorite picture!

Jack couldn't wait for 2 things this year. Hunting and Football. This year he played for Verona White. He had a couple kids from his class on his team so he was happy. Since there are SO many boys that go out for youth football in Verona they have to have 3 or 4 teams per grade. Verona Orange, Verona White and Verona Black (and sometimes Verona Gray...or Grey..).

The season is now done. It wasn't a great season...they lost every game. BUT, Jack loved it. Never complained. Never got discouraged and never wanted to quit. He loves the sport. This year he had practice 3 days a week and a game every Saturday. They were a good bunch of boys but unfortunetly they were a slow team. They just had no one to run the ball or stop the other team from running the ball past them. And most importantly, Jack is still cute in his uniform...don't tell him I said that, OK?

Jack in action

He doesn't look to tough when he is smiling :)!

The first game was raining...Kate was ready!

1st game vs Waunakee

Jack getting tackled by his sisters after his 2nd game....he loves it!

Jack's biggest fan

All in all...a good season. Good weather and Jack had fun...that is what it is all about!

I am almost caught up on posting so keep reading after this post...this is my third post today so don't miss: Hunting and Kate's 2nd birthday :).

Birthday done...now onto to HUNTING

**Warning: This post contains images of dead deer, cute mud babies & silly faces....continue at your own risk :)!***

Wisconsin has a new rule. A rule that has made my son's world a better place. A rule that states you can now hunt, with a real gun, at the age of 10. No more waiting until you are 12. Granted the rule also states that the 10 year old hunter MUST be within arms reach of a licensed adult hunter and only have 1 weapon between them. It is called the mentorship program and it has made our hunting season VERY fun so far :)

Jack saved every penny, nickel and dime he was given. He also did chores...lots of chores...dishes, garbage, cleaned bathrooms (yay for me!). All of this for his very own gun. It took him a year but he saved up $427 to be exact.

All this work paid off. Youth Deer Hunt weekend was finally here. The gun had been sited in weeks before at Nana's house.

He hit the inner bullseye every time!

Grace thought it was a little loud!

The bullets were bought and the jr. hunters were dressed in blaze orange. Ready to go at 5 am. They had a bet between the boys (each put in $5.00)...the first boy to shoot a deer would get all the money. $20 total. The game was on!

We waited and listened for gun shots. The only shots we heard came from neighboring fields so I was pretty sure the bet would still be standing for the evening hunt, until I got a call about 10 a.m. Jared said we have an official deer slayer! Yep, Jack shot a doe!

They were just packing up the gun (took the bullets out) and put away the camcorder (Jared was hoping to videotape Jack's first kill). They were JUST going to get out of the stand and Jared saw 2 doe come over the ridge. He quickly told Jack to get a bullet back in his gun. The first doe shot by and the next doe was coming just as fast. Jared made a grunt noise and the doe stopped...Jack took that 2 second window of opportunity to take a shot. The deer ran about 30 yards and dropped.

The rest of the morning was spent getting the deer ready for processing and getting it to the processor as soon as they could. It was 80 degrees that day. Jack was so excited to win the bet but even more excited that he shot his first deer and provided food for our family :).

And what did Kate do while the boys are out sitting in tree's, waiting for a deer to walk by? What else, but PLAY IN THE MUD! Oh yeah...both of my girls are drawn to mud. They can't stay away from it. Grace had spent an afternoon making "soup" in a bucket. It keeps her busy. All was clean until Miss Kate figured out what she was doing. They had so much fun and her clothes actually got clean :).

I am trying to catch up on posting so keep reading for the post I just put up on Kate's 2nd birthday :).

Next birthday.....FINALLY

Ok, Ok....I am officially months behind in blogging....so much is going on and I HAVE to catch up...so here we go....

Happy 2nd Birthday Kate Louise!

Just a short week after Grace's birthday we celebrated Kate's 2nd birthday.

Kates birthday started out with Grace giving Kate about 10 presents that she picked out (of her own toys) and wrapped by herself. Kate loved it :).

Whenever you asked her what she wanted for her birthday she said "Birfday Cake". For her birfday cake is cupcakes..not a regular cake. She won't eat regular cake...really it is the same cake but she knows if it is cut out of cake or if it is a cupcake. So lucky for her Yaya made her cupcakes :).

We had a little party with family on her birthday and also celebrated Grace's birthday and Colette's birthday all at the same time...great time management and Kate had a blast. She was so happy to sing to Coco and Grace and when it was time for us to sing to her, she sang along. Then cupcakes were handed out and the mess began. Coco was a bit nervous with everyone singing right at her but the candles on the cake made it all better and before you knew it she was enjoying her cake A LOT! Grace thought she she should follow Coco's lead..

All in all the girls had wonderful birthday's. Grace is now 7, Kate is now 2 and Coco is now 1...they grow up way to fast.

Where to begin....

Sorry about the HUGE lack of updates if anyone is still checking in (**crickets**)...morning/all day nauseau is kicking my tail. So where to start.

I think it is only fair to start with some important birthdays and then move onto football and hunting :).

Today we will celebrate Grace's 7th birthday on the blog. She turned 7 at the end of August and I found the perfect party location for her....A local horse stable. It's hard to believe that 7 years has gone by and she isn't my littlest baby anymore! Grace is by far the tallest in her class and is the youngest. She started 2nd grade and loves her teacher. Grace is our snuggler. She gives the best hugs and is always wanting to give more and more hugs...this may be a problem as we get closer to her being a teenager! We are so blessed to have such a sweet little girl that is loving and caring.

She and 3 friends plus her cousin, KeOra, all got to go and learn about horses, feed the horses, groom and finally ride the horses.

Grace's favorite horse was named Thunder and that is the horse she got to feed, groom and ride. She loved that horse and the horse seemed to like her a little too :).

We ended with a picnic at the stables and then cake and ice cream back at our house. She was so happy with the horse cake Yaya made her...we are all enjoying Yaya's new hobby :).

Grace and Keora waiting to ride

Grace riding Thunder

One of goats at the stables: Teddy

Grace, KeOra & Hailey with the stable boss: Festus

Grace and KeOra making Thunder beautiful

Grace also loved this horse out in the pasture

My 7 year old cowgirl....Happy Birthday Princess!

Music to my ears...

Today, Grace and I went to my 12 week appointment with our midwife. I was so excited for this visit because this is THE visit that I would get to finally hear a heartbeat. We tried to find it at 9 weeks but couldn't. Today...our little jelly bean was front and center!
160 beats per minute...it was beautiful.
I told Grace, "that's our baby"...her response, "I want to hear it talking". We have a lot of explaining to do about what a baby can and cannot do before being born :).
So far, everything looks good. I will have the big ultrasound at 20 weeks to make sure everything is in the right place and then we just wait until March to meet our little boy or girl. We are not finding out the gender this time around. We have known with each baby what we are having...I really need some incentive this time to push another 10 pound baby out! Sorry Yaya...you will have to wait with everyone else!

Shortest to Tallest....

Updates shortest to tallest:

Baby #4:

Yep, there is someone shorter than Honey coming to join our family this coming spring!

7 weeks down, 33(or less hopefully) to go! That's right....we are expecting baby #4 in late March/Early April!
To say that we are excited is an understatement. The kids are praying for twins....we are not helping with that prayer :). They want twins so they don't have to share the baby. They still fight over Kate everyday. Who plays with her, who reads to her, who pushes her swing outside....do you see a pattern. Kate is spoiled! Lucky girl!
So far I am feeling ok...better than I felt with Jack and Kate's pregnancies. I am eating small snacks/meals every 2 hours and it seems to help tremendously. I know it is still early but so far so good.

Honey The Dog:

She's doing great. Tolerates Kate standing on her tail. LOVES Kate for feeding her half of whatever she is eating. Barks at the UPS and water delivery truck everday. Whines when we don't let her out to meet the mail lady because the mail lady gives her treats...at Christmas she gives Honey a big bone with a red bow...she loves Honey :). Honey will be 4 this Halloween and she is showing no signs of loosing her puppy energy when meeting new people or other dogs. She is a freak! I am embarrassed.

Kate:

She is taller than Honey now! Her vocabulary is growing more and more everyday. Her newest phrase is "Whoa Baby". She will repeat just about anything (beware) and talks A LOT in a monster voice. I am trying to get her to do it on video. Of course whenever I want her to do something or say something I get the big "NO mama". She is quite the dancer...trying to get that on video too. She is just not a very compliant actress :). Kate has spent her summer playing in her little pool. Taking lots of baths (she loves water). Teasing Honey and bossing around Jack and Grace. Her favorite thing of all time is to "READ A BOOK"...we hear that all day long. She brings book after book after book and commands you to "READ A BOOK". You can't get by with just turning the pages...you have to say some words or she will stop you and tell you again "READ A BOOK". I love that Jack and Grace can read :). I still am not sure what we will do for her 2nd birthday in September. I think she will celebrate her birthday with Great Grandma Amy. Their birthdays are 2 days apart and GG turns 90 this year! She finally wore her first pig tails...they were teeny tiny pig tails but they stayed in for dinner and the park :).

Grace:

notice Kates pigtails...her first :)

She is still my snuggler/hugger/kisser. She is still our Green Girl. I wonder if she will always love green? I am always telling her Jack doesn't always want kisses and hugs and he still loves her. Grace will be 7 at the end of August and is lined up to have a FANTASTIC party this year. We found a local horse stable that is putting together a 4 hour "party" for Grace and 4 friends. They will get there in the morning and help with the feeding and then learn about grooming as they make "their" horse beautiful, then onto Horsemanship (learning how to be in control and not afraid of the horse) and finally Saddle-Up...they each get to ride in the arena. She CAN NOT wait. She loves horses. In July she was able to come to Nana's house with Aunt Sarah. A neighbor girl has her own horse and came down and took Grace on long horse rides. She fell in love! Grace has spent her summer in swimming lessons and art classes. Now she is getting ready to start 2nd grade. I am not ready for her to start 2nd grade. This is the year that the homework increases/the projects are many and the tests are harder. In 2nd grade they have to learn the location of all 50 states...in 3rd grade they have to know all 50 state, their location, capitol and how to correctly spell each...I am glad I didn't go to that school in 3rd grade!

Jack:

The day after Jack got his gun.

Jack firing his gun for the first time...he hit the bullseye.

Grace thought the guns where a little too loud..even with ear plugs :).

Jack is 10. He is a hunter and football player...that is all he thinks about...that is all he talks about. I need to learn more about hunting and football so I know what he is talking about :). He spent the last year saving every penny he was given for holidays and did TONS of chores around the house to save up for his own rifle for hunting season. This past month he achieved his goal...$450. You wouldn't believe the excitment in our house when we got the email saying his gun was in and we could pick it up. This weekend he was able to site the gun in at Nana's with Jared. It was a big day for Jack. Now we wait (not very patiently) for hunting season. Good thing football starts this next week! We picked up the football uniform last night and this year Jack is #78. Jack spent his summer dreaming of his gun and doing MANY loads of dishes :). He had football camp at the end of July...it was so hot and he loved it so much. I am looking forward to the days cooling down and sitting in my lawn chair watching him play football...he looks so cute in his uniform. Don't tell him I think he is cute...he thinks that is gross.

Me (sorry no pics)

I am feeling ok so far. Sleeping a lot. I NEVER take naps and now I have to take naps or I can't make it through the day. At least I am not as sick as I was with Jack and Kate. We have decided not to find out the gender this time....it will be hard but I really want a surprise. I also want incentive to push out another 10 pound baby! I have spent my summer running Grace to swimming and art class, running after Kate and helping with the office. When I have free time I work on my digital scrapbook pages and dream of a new camera :)...Santa are you listening???

Jared (again, no pics)

He has been busy with the 2 offices and keeping the yard mowed and reading books to Kate. Whenever Jared sits down he has a pile of books thrown (literally) at him and has Kate climbing up saying "read a book daddy"...he has never said no. Jared is equally as excited for hunting season to start because this year they lowered the mentor gun hunting to 10 so Jack can carry his own rifle (only one gun between them). Jared has spent his summer playing on his sand volleyball league and fixing cars :)...it's his new hobby :).

So, there you have it...our summer in a paragraph. It has gone way too fast and I am not ready for school to start. Ok, I am ready some days for the kids to go back to school but I am not prepared in the way of school supplies and helping with homework every night. Kate won't know what happened to her buddies that play with her all day. I am hoping to blog more frequently so they aren't sooo long. Sorry. See you soon!