Memorial Day

We spent the day at Bay Beach amusement park in Green Bay today. It is one of our favorite places to take the kids. It has lots of little rides that are perfect for younger children. All of the rides cost a quarter, so you can spend a significant amount of time riding rides and it really doesn't cost much! A very happy thing when you have a growing family!:) It was the warmest day we have seen so far this year, it was just gorgeous outside, we had a great time!

Maggie going to town on some ice cream!


Waiting for the big kids to be done with a ride...again. What a patient girl!

Yeah! The Merry-Go-Round! Finally a ride she can enjoy with us!

Lia and Jax take turns picking which ride to go on- Jaxon's first choice is always the cars.

Getting ready for a boat ride.

Jaxon - highly excited about his Spider-Man Popsicle!

Sis on the big swings!

As an extra bonus (I'm guessing because it was a holiday) they had ponies for the kids to ride. This was definitely the highlight of the day for Lia. She loves ponies, and is constantly asking if she can have one. She is pretty much out of luck as far as that goes, no large animals for us any time soon. We were so very glad had a chance to ride one today. She was thrilled because she got to ride the biggest pony they had! Can she really be my daughter? I still have a serious horse riding phobia, apparently I did not pass it on. :)

Big kids on the train - getting ready to go!

Jaxon shocked us all by requesting to go on the big slides with dad. We were so proud! This is so not his style. He is not generally one for high adventure and sticks to the boats/cars etc. He was pretty nervous, but he did it! Yeah Jaxon, way to branch out bud. When I asked him if it was fun he simply replied nonchalantly "No". Who knows if it will ever happen again. At least we got a picture!


This one is of Lia and Ty on the slides. Not really a great photo, but they are in there - towards the middle.

Here is Lia after her ride on the slides. Lia is our child who doesn't even know what nervous means! She has never met a ride she doesn't like............does it show on her face?

On a more serious note, we are sad today to be away from our sweet Lily's grave and want to say thank you so VERY, VERY much to those of you who took a minute to stop in and leave something today. Your thoughtfulness means the world. Thank you as well G. Lynn and G. Steve for taking such wonderful care of her grave site.

The Graduate

Lia graduated from preschool last Friday. She is on her way to Kindergarten this fall, can you believe it!? Oh, I feel so old when I think about her being at school all day long. Anyway, her graduation was very cute - All the parents came, they sang some songs and had a video presentation .
Afterwards some of the moms organized a trip to Chuck E Cheese for the kids, so we went there with a bunch of Lia's friends. It was great fun. We ate nasty pizza, Jaxon was traumatized by the guy in the Chuck E suit, and Maggie discovered the joy of riding on the Barney car. That evening was the school carnival, complete with games and a brat fry of COURSE! We do live in Wisconsin after all.
The following is a slide show of all of the above. It was quite a day! I came home and had a collapse after all of the festivities.

Congratulations Lia! We Love You!

I heart Wisconsin

The kids and I enjoyed another trip to the park last week. The park we went to is in a particularly nice part of town, so I took the camera along and snapped some photos. I have heard some people who have moved here with Kimberly Clark say they don't think Wisconsin is a pretty state. I would like to take this opportunity to disagree, I love it here - especially in the spring!

Ode to a Cardboard Box

The House :)

As many of you know we are moving at the end of this month. We will still be here in Wisconsin- just out of the rental and into a real house again! Yeah!! So, we are currently in packing mode at our house...ick. Everything is torn apart, cardboard boxes everywhere, you get the idea! The other day while I was packing the kids started playing around in the cardboard boxes. Maggie was loving it - she was so funny! Lia and Jaxon kept peeking through the opposite side and she would scream and laugh every time. It's times like these when you wonder why in the world you ever spent way to much on the latest gadget - cardboard will do apparently. :)

Mom's Treasures

A few photos from Mother's Day -


Me and my Maggie. Maggie is holding a foamy necklace that Jaxon made for me at church!

Tyler helped the kids make this cute sleeping mask (a mother's day craft from Family Fun magazine). Isn't it so cute? Tyler even braved Hobby Lobby all by himself to purchase the supplies - I was so proud.

Lia with a paper mache vase she made for me at preschool! So Fun!

Maggie

This is just a little video clip of Maggie... walking and eating ice cream. Two of her favorite activities. Enjoy!

to MOM

Happy Mothers Day!

I just wanted to take a quick moment to tell my mom how much I love her, and tell anyone else who's reading this some of the wonderful things about her!
My mom is such an amazing woman, it is hard to know where to start. My mom is a great listener. I have been talking her ear off every night since I was a teenager. I can't seem to finish out my day with out giving her a quick report. Somehow it just makes me feel better about life, and somehow she still manages to seem interested. Thank heavens for flat rate long distance is all Tyler has to say! She has also been the greatest example of service in my life. Never drawing attention to herself she quietly serves those around her. She is always taking someone a meal, making sure they are invited to book club, or just lending a listening ear. She also loves and serves the clients she has worked with over the years, helping them to change their lives and make a better future for them and their families. My mom is such a smart and capable woman, I have always admired her confidence - she is definitely not a wimpy woman - right dad?
She is also such a fun/hip grandma. I know all of her grandkids will agree. She sends text messages and watches American Idol, just so she knows what's going on in their lives. She also lets then know how much she loves them by returning every phone call, sending countless packages, and commenting away on every blog post!
Have a great day mom - we all love you so very, very much!

I would be remiss if I didn't say something about my other mom. Kathy is such a great woman and I feel very blessed to be a part of her family. She is such a fantastic mother and grandmother. She deserves credit first of all for raising my sweet husband, even through his teenage years, which were not quite so sweet. :) All six of her children are such great people, she should be so proud of her beautiful family! She is such an upbeat woman, I have rarely seen her without a smile on her face. She is definitely where Tyler gets the fun/crazy side of his personality. Kathy is such a wonderful grandma to her rapidly growing collection of grandkids. She always has a cookie and a smile for them, and they know they are loved when they are in her home. Thanks so much for all you do Kathy! We love you and hope you have a great Mother's Day!

Park Trip

Dino-Mite Date with Dad

Monday evening was Dad's Night at Lia's school.

Lia and Ty had a great time. There was a dinosaur theme - they got to paint faces, make dinosaurs out of play-doh, dig for fossils, ...you get the idea.
Lia was so excited about the whole thing - she must have asked me twenty times that day when Ty was coming home so they could get going. :)

Painting Material

A few cute pics of the kids enjoying the warm weather the other day.
Tyler has been asking me for the last... oh few years...to paint a picture of our children. So I set out to get just the right picture to paint from.
I still have yet to get a shot of them from the front that is exactly what I want for painting purposes. I was pleased with the very last shot of them from the back though. I think it would be a nice piece, so maybe he will actually get the painting he is requesting for a change!

This is the one! We'll see how it goes.

It's Always Fun When Grandma Comes, When Grandma Comes HOORAY!

G. Lynn and the girls! Aren't they adorable.

We are a bit late in getting around to posting about Grandma Lynn's recent visit. She was in town for both Jaxon and Maggie's birthday celebrations. She spoiled the kids, allowed Tyler and I to go out on a date, gave me some adult conversation during the day...the list goes on! We were so grateful to have her come, and as always her visit seemed way to short. The day after she left I came into the room where the kids were and Lia said in a disappointed tone "OH...I thought you were grandma for a second, but then I looked up and it was only you." I am not near as exciting as grandma obviously! We love you G. Lynn! Thanks for making the trip to the frozen tundra! xoxoxo