Pocket full of Squirrels

Green Bay HOF

2011-07-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the start of training camp 2011! Hooray for football season, soon anyways! We had a great start to summer, took some family trips across the good ole state of Wisconsin. First one was Cave of the Mounds and Madison Zoo over Memorial weekend. Pictures to come on that trip. Next trip was up to Green Bay to visit the Hall of Fame, Bay Beach. The kids enjoyed the HOF, had a lot of fun with the statues and hands on part. I still want to go back without the kids and actually read and listen to all the cool things there.
As close as we could get to the Lombardi trophy (not as good as the Ig's)

Winn and Maddy on the line...

Some day, we'll do this in real life!!!

Brewer game

2011-06-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

First family brewer game of the season. It was a lot of fun, and the crappy WI weather was nice to us. We somehow avioded the rain pre and post game. Thanks to the roof! The tailgaiting and game are getting more fun as the kids are growing up. We only had to walk around one time (for about 20 minutes) and then the kids sat the entire game. Thanks for licorice, peanuts and ice cream, but that is what brewers games are about as a kid.
They lost, but we had a great time. Friday night game was with Tracy, just like old times when we were kids. We went to tons of games and it was always a great time.

In the pictures below, note Winstons fish hat. He is OBSESSED with underwater creatures, this includes fish of any kind (especailly blue ones), octopus and squid. He and nana found a fishy hat at Michaels and he wears it AT ALL TIMES! It is pretty darn cute though.

SNOW DAY 2011

2011-02-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love a good snow day, especially the blizzard of 2011? We had such a great time that day. The kids had a blast outside in the snow, got stuck a million times, but it was lots of fun. We headed out for some sledding later on in the day, and the kids were GREAT! It was quite enjoyable, the kids actually walked up the hill and pulled their sleds every time. WOW !!!!!!!
Jeff was excited because virtually every business was closed that day, but somehow bowling still happened :)
Grammie and Grandpy watched the kids overnight (they slept great, imagine why...4 hours outside), and I headed over the Village Bowl for some great cribbage action.

GREEN BAY PACKERS WORLD CHAMPIONS

2011-02-09T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hell of a Packer season, to finish with the icing on the cake. We had a GREAT Superbowl party at the Ig's home. I can't even describe the excitement I am feeling as I look at the pictures, and remember all the crazy things that went on that day. It truly was the BEST day in a Packer fans lifetime. It may take presidence over 1996. Not the fun all us girls had that day back in 1996 :), but since the downfall of our beloved Favre. It was a special and such well deserved victory last sunday and I will savor every moment. Enough said. Pictures to follow, have to "fix up" a few.

Running all the way to chicago

2011-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

That's what was on the back of my jersey for the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon at the Pettit Ice Center this past saturday! Once again, PocketSquirrels and the Gang II, came out to chilly 40 degree ice rink/running track for the 3rd annual marathon/marathon relay. The correct answer is, the marathon relay. I did not do the marathon, nor would I choose to run 96 laps in a circle. I choose to run 24 laps in a circle instead. Holly, Tracy, Anne and myself ran our standard 10 min/mile pace, to finish in 4 hours 20 some minutes. I guess that is ok, it always seems as though we should finish faster, but this is a hard race. It is first of all very cold, especially when you run and rest, and multiply this by 20 or 30 times. It is super fun, and I will go on record that this will be an annual event.
After the race, Jeff and I headed south to Chicago for THE PACKER GAME!!!!! We got to experience the best packer game I have ever been to (outside of Lambeau Field of course). My first packer game at Lambeau was the Freeman catch against Minnesota...great game. But this, hands down, was one for the books. We had a great opportunity (thanks to Captain Bear) to attend the game at Soldier Field. Himmed and hawed for about 5 minutes, and then booked the hotel, parents could watch the kids, and we were off. The experience was great, a little nerve wrecking towards the end, but the final outcome was what we had hoped. So....anyone have any Superbowl tickets laying around that they are not using??????

happy b day Maddy

2011-01-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

My little peanut is 5! How can this be I wonder. I do realize the statement "it goes by so fast", but seriously? that fast? I will be one of those moms who says they wish for more time when the kids were young.
Happy Birthday D!

sick blues

2011-01-04T18:35:00.000-08:00

so tell me, is there a reasonable answer as to why my household gets sick every January? Is there a curse on my family, my kids? Or could it be that horrible disgusting fish that Winn carries around the house, putting oh so close to his mouth, or mine?? Last year at this time, I was planning on running the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon relay, and I got sick. Still ran, with sinus infection and all. Well, well, it is that time again. And here I sit, with an incredibly sore throat, 2 weeks and counting until the race. Please, I ask, let me get better. Holly and I sat at work today popping echinachea and zinc tablets hoping that will do the trick. Poor Maddy to the ENT tomorrow, hopefully find an answer the the 4 month congestion period......
Next note, I have to wish Miss Maddy her Happy 5th B-Day. 5 on Dec 28th, party to follow the standard 2 weeks later. Full itinerary this weekend. Party at 3pm, bowling at 9pm. Mama Mia at 1pm and Packer game to follow. Jeff and I are truly dorks. We have secluded ourselves the past 2 sundays and watched the packer game at 730, when the kids went to bed. This was seriously hard to do, with fantasy football still rolling, and technology as it is. We had to turn off cell phones (no iphone's for us), turn off tv, and avoid answering the phone in case anyone was excited to spread the news. It was weird that the entire world knew the outcome of the Packers game and playoff hopes, but we were truly excited when we watched it. Can we do it 3 times in a row???? No offense to the kids, but they have no interest in intently watching the packer game, what 5 or 3 yr old does?

Snow...where are you??

2010-12-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

I am getting the urge to go cross country skiing. Now first off, I don't have ski's. I may have some vintage one's, but have no idea where they are. I drive past parks daily and am getting an itch. I am texting good ole' Ben, the cross country skiing god that I know of. I am thinking this is going to be an expensive investment?????? The last time I skied was probably 5 yrs ago, and I think I got lost on the trails for at least 2 hrs. I thought for sure I was a goner :)
We'll see what the snow brings...looks like 47 on friday, no skiing just yet!!

2010-12-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hello, is anyone actually still reading this?? I have been MIA since April, not quite a year, but close enough. So much has changed since April. We have moved, to the burbs. Gone is Tosa (which I miss the neighborhood and people, but I LOVE my new house), and hello Menomonee Falls. Out first Christmas in our new home and I am excited! We were up and decorated the day after Thanksgiving. Just got the 13+ foot tree up in the house. It is absoulutely beautiful, thanks to Uncle Scott and the magic tree farm. This is the BEST tree by far. I will post some pics soon. I hope to get back to blogging, I really enjoy it. Time has gotten away from me this summer, with the move and all. I hope everyone will continue to read this and enjoy!! Thanks again Jenny for inspiring me to restart!
Maddy is ready for Christmas, and for Packer playoffs??? Do we HAVE to cheer for a viking win over the bears. Reminiscent of when we wore Mroz' Bears clothes when we were trying to sneak into playoffs...

Maddy and Winn...a rare loving shot :)

Maddy our next soccer phenom....

2010-04-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

sure, does this mean I actually have to learn the rules and how to play soccer. Eeeekkkk.... it is not my forte, but I can learn!! During our little spring/summer teaser the past few weeks, we had tons of time to play outside. Soccer, basketball, baseball, choose your sport in this house. Maddy will hopefully be signed up for the Milwaukee kickers 3-6 yr old soccer camp. I am awaiting the confirmation and Maddy asks EVERY DAY. She was outside practicing some "moves" and I asked her what she was doing. She quickly replied "Mom, why do you think I am doing all of these soccer moves, I want you to sign me up for soccer camp." Well then, maybe you should just ask! I did not say that, but I did laugh a bit. I am not sure where she learned this stuff, but she was doing some crazy back and side kicks? Yikes!

Winn was content attempting to dunk the basketball in the mini hoop in the back. All Jeff wants is a real basketball hoop, this will then be his exercise...so he claims...we'll see. Any ball related sport is up Winn's alley. I can't wait to get the pics of Winn switch hitting, yes, righty and lefty. Throws lefty, makes Daddy proud...

Happy Easter

2010-04-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Easter to all! Easter this year was spent at the Ehrhardt's, Jeff's parents house. It was a big and very enjoyable crowd, with my parents, Tim and Emily, Uncle Greg, and Jeff's family. It was truly a great day, great weather and a wonderful day. Maddy was quite happy to wear her Easter dress, Winn could care less. He wanted to wear a Thomas the Train t-shirt and that was a battle...I have to learn to pick mine!! The kids had a great time with their cousins and uncles and anuts and grandparents.

Go away snow...and don't come back until November

2010-03-10T18:22:00.001-08:00

I am feeling it, the spring fever...in regards to the weather, the Brewers, just being OUTSIDE!! I know that I am being fooled by dear mother nature, it will probably snow a few feet before winter is seriously over. But I guess I will have to take what I can get for now. We enjoyed a walk around the block today, fashioning our spring jackets! YIPPEE! I won't pack away the winter clothes yet, but I really want to.
On another note, MARCH MADNESS has begun. Marquette winning their game in the Big East Tourney today. 57-55, close game, I expect nothing more than a close game EVERY GAME. We'll see what happens tomorrow! GO MU!!!!!
I have again restarted my knitting! I am attempting to knit a scarf, and it is proving to be quite challenging. There are a lot of holes (oops) and I am ending up with 23 in my row that is supposed to have started with 20 (who knows), but I am enjoying it. Kelcey, my neighbor, has been my savior when I screw up, but she will be having baby #2 any day now, so I guess I will have to figure it out on my own. Not likely. I think the scarf may turn out to be a pot holder?!?!?!?!

Day Trip to CHICAGO

2010-03-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

The E's decided at 8:30am last Sunday to take the family on a road trip to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The kids LOVE museums...that I am glad for. We spend a lot of time between the Discovery World, Milwaukee Public Museum, and the Zoo, why not add another one in there? This place was great! Jeff and I have been there when we were dating, eons ago, but have not been back since then. I think they just remodeled 1 or 2 years ago, so everything was up to date. We ended up doing the Family Membership so we can head back this summer, and maybe make a little trip in the fall. We passed the new Chicago Bears stadium (we affectionately call them the Stinky Bears), and Maddy exclaimed, it looks like a spaceship?!?!?!!? YES, IT DOES dear child!! Those Bears...

There was an area where you could walk over the sting rays. Winn and Maddy thought it would be good to get a closer look so they lay on the glass floor so they were REALLY close to them. Winn wanted to climb over the wall and jump in, but we thought THAT would not be a great idea...

We found NEMO...and CRUSH!!!

ICE, ICE BABY

2010-03-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

My dad and I took the kids ice skating for the first time the other day. We went to Red Arrow Park, downtown Milwaukee. As a preface, I have been ice skating since I was about 1 1/5 (say my parents). Not sure if this is truth or not, BUT it has been forever. It started way back when, when there was such thing as an ice rink at Mayfair. Does anyone actually remember this...I can clearly remember EVERYTHING about this. I seem for forget a lot from when I was little, but I distinctly remember A LOT about the Mayfair Ice Rink. So back to the point of the post, we took the kids skating for the first time. Maddy had a pair of black double blades (she calls them boy skates, but is somehow ok with this...) and Winn has (per my dad) my first four blade skates that I used, funny! They were hesitant for about 2 minutes, then Maddy says that she doesn't need to me to hold her hand, that she can do it herself! OK then... She actually did pretty good, pretty much just "walking" around, not quite the gliding princess that she'd have liked, but pretty solid for the first time. Winn enjoyed my dad sliding him across the ice on his butt. He did better than I thought, as much of a pistol that he is, he sometimes is a bit afraid things. He was on his own in about a half hour or so.
Here are some pics of the kids, there are a lot, but its hard to cut them out, they are too darn cute :) By the end, Maddy was trying to do a triple toe axle, and Winn was a shoe in for the goalie. Lots of ice time and fun!!

Get Your Booty in Gear

2010-02-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

I am now in training for a few events this summer. I have decided to sign up for another triathalon...guess where...VEGAS BABY!!! Holly, Michelle, and I (the same clan that did the Naperville tri last summer) will be heading out to Sin City for the Iron Girl Triathlon Series. It is a sprint distance, 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. Really not too bad, it seems much easier now that I have actually completed one. My goal is to beat my time from last year 1:44 (eeekk, not good, but my goal at that point was to just finish). I have to start my search for renting a bike, and getting a wet suit for the swim. I am very excited to have something penciled in for late spring. Next, will be the half marathon in Madison, 2 weeks later. I plan to just train for the half marathon, and fit in my triathalon training on my rest/cross train days. Also, did I mention it is in VEGAS...hello blackjack & poker, mama needs a new pair of shoes...double down...all in!!!

My son & the underwear models

2010-02-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

Is this picture a good or bad thing??? Winn got into the mail and was perusing through the Victoria's Secret catalog. Seriously??? Seriously. This kid is too funny, the look on his face. GOTCHAS (unsure of the Polish spelling for underwear)he was saying over and over again...

New Years pics

2010-01-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

Our usual New Year Eve...we've been getting together with the Ig's for a while, pre kids, which is a while. It consists of Rummy Royal, cocktails, and delicious steaks. I used to make lobster tails, but with the addition of 2 kids, that has temporarily been put on hold. Kids enjoy mac and cheese, hot dogs, and apple sauce, adults enjoy steak, baked potatoes, salad and VINO! This year was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast together, playing with the toyland that is the Ig's basement!!! Now, my kids usually go to bed at sometime between 7 and 8, so I wasn't sure what to expect since I knew they would be up LATE. They were great!! No nap from Winn in the afternoon, led to a nice 9 o'clock bedtime. We tricked Maddy into the 11:00 ball drop and she was in bed shortly after. They had fun with the New Years glasses and noise makers. We stayed overnight, which is always the plan, so we could partake in a few Iggy cocktails.

2010-01-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

Once again, the Ehrhardt's are busy busy busy with no time to blog. Well, part of my new year me is to try my hardest to maintain this blog. I really do enjoy writing about all the nonsense we do on a daily basis, but often time escapes me. We are again in the January I-have-a-cold month. This is typical of jan through march around here. Seems like there is not much we can do about it, but go with the flow. I think we are nearing the tail end....I hope. I will have to post some pictures from Christmas and New Years, we had a lot of fun this year on both holidays! Maddy had her first preschool Christmas event, which was adorable. Her class, the Crickets, were lambs. Each classroom was a part of Christmas and the story of baby Jesus, as Maddy would tell us. She was so excited to tell us about Jesus and where he was born. The Christmas pagent was very cute!!!
We had an awesome Christmas tree cut fresh from Uncle Scott. It was gorgeous, nothing better to me than a fresh, cut Christmas tree. Winn named our tree Fred. Not sure how that even came about, but he wanted to call him Fred!

Maddy celebrated her 4th birthday this past weekend. Poor girl, with the holiday birthday (12/28) makes it quite a challenge to actually have any sort of party at this time. We now revert to celebrating sometime in January. It was a small party, with just the grandparents and cousins and uncle, but Maddy had fun!! I can't believe she is 4 already...going on 14.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2009-12-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

I was wondering when we would finally get our snow. Well, ask and you shall receive. Every last 12 inches or more of it. Like my neighbor said today, if its going to snow...bring it on. None of this 2 or 3 inches. Let's take the whole 2 feet and go to town. The kids were crazy this morning already. Winn standing on 2 boxes to see out the window. Maddy asking if Dad got the sleds out from the top of the garage. Me wondering how long it would take to get them ready...answer, pretty long. Maddy is proud that she can get her snow pants and coat and boots on by herself. Winn wanting to "do it myself" and never quite accomplishing it. He now says that he is "fustrated" when he is actually frustrated, go figure. So we spent the day shoveling and making snowmen and snow angles, and had lots of fun. Hopefully we can bring on the sleds tomorrow. Hip hip hooray for snow days!!!!

Dress up

2009-11-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

The kids wanted to play dress up the other day. They apparently decided on Packers jerseys. I thought I hid the cursed #4, but Maddy somehow found it. Winn went for the authentic "30" Ehrhardt, how appropriate. This was also haircut day, notice Winn's haircut looks faintly similar to someone we know.

What you can't see, is that Winn has my heels on...good thing the jersey is so long!!
I'll keep him away from my dresses.

Winn's 2nd B-Day!!

2009-11-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

Happy belated birthday to Winn! He finally turned 2, our little Halloween boy. Birthday party and Halloween party combined as usual. This year was much more low key than last year, although I am looking forward to a BIG Halloween party next year. Here are some pics of the boy...

2009-10-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

The Ehrhardt's had a free weekend....WHAT????? Print it in the headlines!! So, what do we do? Plan a trip up to Wisconsin Rapids to visit cousins, and Auntie Mimi and Uncle Scott too of course. We have not seen the Sig's since DW. And, honestly, I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend. We had tons of fun with everyone! The kids played great together, and we had a really nice weekend of visiting, pumpkin farming, cold football gaming, beautiful balleting, and eating and drinking:) The kids were playing in the leaves, pardon me, pine needle "leaves" and I got some funny pics of Liesl and Joe.

We got to visit one of the pumpkin farms in Rapids, no not Uncle Scott's. But for the record, we were given some beautiful and huge pumpkins, and acorn squash for Jeff. The pumpkin farm had a corn maze, spoooooky trail, and some farm animals and treats. We did a hay ride. It was a long long ride in the cold. With Maddy dropping her chocolate pretzel which transformed into a Mad-E meltdown. Pretzel # 2 was purchased and all was well!!

Sorry for all the pictures, I just love taking them. The kids are finally getting better at letting me too! We had a nice weekend with the E family!!!!!

Princess Party!!!

2009-10-07T12:19:00.001-07:00

Maddy went to her first "Princess Party" last week for her friend Ava. She received the invitation in the mail and was ecstatic about dressing up as her favorite princess, and drinking tea...of course. What princess doesn't like tea?? My friend Kari, Ava's mom, really outdid herself. We walked in, Princess Maddy got her picture taken, then off to play in the Princess Playland (aka, the living room). There was castles, tea parties, the whole shebang. Lunch was served, adorable cut out princess sandwiches, jello in the shapes of slippers, rings, cinderella...yikes. Oh, and of course this was all served on glass tea plates and glass tea cups. Boy Kari are you brave!!! Making princess purses, and princess picture frames was a hit. Then, how could you have a 4 year old party without a pinata???? Cake and ice cream to follow (my personal favorite part:)) It was so much fun, Maddy had a great time.

First day of school

2009-09-04T12:08:00.001-07:00

My little Maddy, starting school. SERiously, where has the time gone, and how are they growing up so fast??? Our quest for looking into preschool for Maddy brought us into Brookfield to Elmbrook Church Child Enrishment Center. Fondly called ECCEC. We looked into some places in Tosa, but they didn't seem to fit our schedule. I am very happy with our choice and Mads too! She really couldn't have been more excited about starting. For the past month she has been asking on a daily basis when school is starting, and so finally it did. She goes wed and fri from 8am-1pm. Such a long time for a little 3 year old. But she LOVES it! Today was the 2nd day, and she wanted to walk in by herself, hang up her backpack and go into class. Those were maddy's words. I cannot let her do this, however, but she did get to lead the way. MAddy was sad on the first day because she didn't get a "job" for the day. We talked about all the kids getting their turn for jobs, and she seemed a little skeptical. So today at pick-up, she told me she got the job as the weather person. She was so pleased!!!! Here are some pics of her first day! Oh yes, Winn thinks he should be going to school now too....yikes.

This is a picture of Winn getting Maddy up...yes, we sometimes have to get Maddy up in the morning, far cry from 6am....like her brother...

Maddy and Winn on the porch, ready for school.

At school and ready to go...

Disneyworld, we came, we saw, it conquered us...

2009-09-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

Our trip to DisneyWorld (dw, as we will now call it)...in a nut shell. Or else, I will be writing forever. The trip down was WWWAAAAAYYYYY better than I or Jeff ever expected. They were great in the car (great could be a stretch, but really they were that good). The last 2 hours both there and back were a little hairy, but all in all, it went fairly smooth. THIS IS IN CAPS BECAUSE ITS VERY IMPORTANT...THANK YOU NYSSE'S FOR THE DVD PLAYERS...LOVE MADDY AND WINN...AND JEFF AND JEN :)

day 1: We arrive in dw at 3pm, Disney time. Disney time means, there is no time. Time is pretty non-existent when you are there. With the exception of when to return for your fast pass. Otherwise, you just go go go. We just settled in, sent shopping for food, made dinner, and went to bed...ready for a long day ahead.

Day 2: Magic Kingdom here we come!!!! Maddy all ready to go in her Cinderella dress. There is a picture in this series, where Mads is on the carousel with her dress, first time to dw pin, and a huge sweaty smile on her face. This is classic. I just love this picture. It sums it up...we were hot as heck, seriously, but it was worth every penny!

day 3: Happy anniversary to me and Jeff! How romantic that we return to the place of our honeymoon. Nothing like we were 6 years ago...2 kids later and here we are. We went to a character breakfast at the contemporary this day. It was a lot of fun. Maddy was so excited to get all the characters autographs in her special autograph book, thanks to Auntie Mimi!!! She will cherish this forever, us too!

day 4: Off to animal kingdom and freak out at "Bug's Life". Like Scott said, they really must want you to think you are in Africa, they must blast in extra heat. Really, this place was like 120 degrees. Winn was a trooper, taking naps in the stroller EVERY day for 2+ hours. I couldn't believe it. Maddy did NOT like the bugs life 3D show. I, personally, do not like it either, but the blood curling screams were a bit much...

day 5: EPCOT (do YOU know what that stands for?????) and thank goodness for the water pad...The kids, once again, were hot hot hot. We found a water pad, and the kids splashed in there for a long time.

day 6: golf...swim...bbq. Jeff, dad and I golfed this morning. Did I mention it was HOT out???? are you kidding me?? Note to self, do not go to dw in August.
We swam at the pool in Fort Wilderness, where we stayed. THIS PLACE WAS AWESOME...GREAT PLACE TO STAY!!!! Then off to Mickey's Big BBQ. I really enjoyed this. I kind of felt like I was at a redneck hick country wedding (which by the way, I would really enjoy). There was a buffet with great food, and a country band playing great music, and free beer. Yes, I said free beer, at dw?? We had a lot of fun.

day 7: new hotel?? We wake up friday morning, ready to head to Hollywood, formerly known as MGM. And much to our surprise we find our hotel bill under the door. HHmmmmmmm, are we checking out today...no....
A little mishap with reservations, and we were packing up everything and moving to the Yacht Club for our last night! It actually worked out well, we got all packed up, which for the last day was kind of nice. We headed out to Hollywood for the afternoon and then fireworks and Tinkerbell for the night. Maddy fell asleep (10pm at night) and we had to wake her up for fireworks. She enjoyed them, amidst the chaos that is dw, in magic kindgom, at 10pm....CHAOS I TELL YOU!!! Winn like the "booms" and now everytime he sees the castle, he says...boom, loud!

All in all, it was a fun trip. The kids had a great time, they were little troopers. It wasn't a relaxing trip, but was it supposed to be?? Not in dw, right??
We will go back, not next year, but maybe the year after...not in august...please!!!

4th of July!!!

2009-07-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

Our annual 4th of July Holiday consists of this: parade 9:00am sharp Wilson park (watch out everyone, this parade gets crazy...the elephants, bands, floats...), back to the Ehrhardt's for party set up and lunch, then huge annual 4th of July party with fireworks to top it off! It is a great day, and this one was no different, with the exception of being sick :(
The kids had a fun time in the parade, to their excitement there is always ice cream at the end. Maddy asked for chocolate, which they don't have EVER, but she settled on vanilla. Winn for some odd reason this year, did not want any, so yours truly had 2.....yippee! The party was fun, its cool to see all the kids that are getting bigger each year and how many more are on the way! Little Jack K. asked Jeff if he could blow up the jumping castle. Poor little guy, maybe we'll bring it back next year, it's about due time that someone loses another tooth!
The party was great, left around 10ish, home to bed, then off to Urgent Care for me, in just enough time to be diagnosed with mono....lovely.
I am slowly recovering, realizing that it is important to get lots of rest...what is that?
Here are some pics from the 4th...

This picture below is getting easier every year. It is all of Terri's, Nicki's and our kids. They are part of the Wilson Park excitement too! It's so neat to see them all together.

Feeling hot hot hot

2009-07-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

We'll, we've had a few nice days in WI, and we have to take advantage of every single one of them. That means lots of pool time!! Pool time at home, pool time at the park, where ever we can! Summer here means no shoes, delicious Popsicles, and water, water water! This was our heat wave in Milwaukee, 95 degrees, which I normally do not like, but I was enjoying every second...kids too!

A day out with THOMAS

2009-07-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

On friday, June 12th Jeff took a day off of work and we took the kids to the Island of Sodor to visit thomas. Oh wait, we didn't really go to the island of sodor, Thomas the Train just happended to be passing through good ole Green Bay WI! We didn't tell Maddy where we were going, just that we were taking a special vacation. We made a stop to Bay Beach (thanks Terri for the trip last year) before Thomas. We only had 2 hours to kill, so we stopped there first. The kids had a great time on the rides, Winn and Maddy both! This was a good trip to prepare them for St Romans, which to Maddy is all about the rides.

Then off to thomas, boarding at 1:15pm. We got there in the nick of time, because they pretty much started to board right after we checked in. We got to ride in a double decker bus, which took 2 laps around the national train museum, where Thomas made his magical stop in Green Bay.

The rest of the day was spent touring old locomotives, very cool. It sometimes was a little creepy walking through there OLD engine/train cars. There was a mail car, a dining room, kitchen, sleeping quarters, etc. The trains look so much bigger when you are standing next to them!

We also had a surprise visit from MR Bottom Pants, I mean Mr. Topham Hat, who again, those who aren't grandparemnts, kids, parents or aunts or uncles, is the so-called leader of the railways on the island of sodor. Jeff thinks he is a little over bearing and often mean..... He seemed pretty harmless there:)

There was so much for the kids to do: music, of course trains (your choice wooden, electric, yadda yadda yadda), arts and crafts, story time, and of course the kids favorite tattoes!!! They had those things on there for an entire week. Yikes!! It really was a fun day spent together. Then it was off to home, next day was a busy day travelling to IL for my triathalon. That post will be in Que Sera Sera.

Brew Crew

2009-06-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

I will continue on about our squirrel adventures in the month of may. This may continue on until I catch you all up, and let myself catch up as well. I don't have any excuse about why I haven't posted in a long while, well, I guess I can give a lot of excuses. First off, our dear little Maddy has now declared that she does not take naps anymore. Let me tell you, this was a HUGE adjustment, probably more on my part, but on hers as well. I feel that she still needs them, till at least 6yrs old. We now have figured out a system and it seems to be working out alright. I do realize that this was when I usually did my blogging, so that COULD be why I am so far behind. Maybe, maybe not!
Mid May the Ehrhardt's made a quick decision to take the family to Winn's first Brewer game. Now, of course he went when I was pregnant,but that does not count. It was a great day, shorts weather (in May that was a miracle)!!! We decided to do the whole tailgating thing, which was a lot of fun! Jeff and Winn went to buy some tickets (standing room only) and Maddy and I held down the fort. Maddy wanted to play the bean bag game with the college kids next to us, but I talked her out of it. Yikes, she sure does like to mingle with the older crowd. Uh oh! We weren't planning on sitting (obviously since we didn't have seats), but I figured that with Winn, there usually is not sitting involved. Maddy had a great time playing in all the sports themed things, racing sausages, running to first base, slides. Winn of course wanted to keep up, but still a bit too small. He doesn't think so! We made it to 8:00p, 2 hours I think is respectable with a 19 month old!!! It was a lot of fun.

where did May and June go???

2009-06-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

Seriously, where did they go? We have been so busy these past few months, I feel as though I am in a whirlwind. I noted my last post, and it was about the weather, today it is like 95 degrees out, and I am complaining!!!! Yikes, can we ever be happy with the weather. So, May was all about dance recitals, Mother's day, cousin Joe's birthday, Danny Gokey day, Brewers games, weddings...Could I fit anything else in??? Probably, if I had to!
Maddy had her first EVER dance recital early May. It was quite the experience for her. Such a big girl, sitting so well with her class through the dress rehearsal and the big night. It was so cute to see! Maddy did so well. She would like to sign up for ballet and tap again in the fall...following in cousin Liesl and Aunt Mimi's footsteps!

Next up...a bit old, but our own hometown American Idol Danny Gokey visited Milwaukee during the finale week on American Idol. I just had to go! It happened to be a great day, and my friend Yasmin, Holly & Lauren, and i took the kids down to the Summerfest grounds to cheer on Danny Gokey. Maddy was chanting Danny Gokey with the crowd, too funny. We could barely see him, but Lauren got a few extra zoom pictures for proof! We had a fun time, nonetheless.

Spring???? Maybe????

2009-04-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

I realize that it is only 51 degrees out, but it honestly felt like the perfect summer day. I was hosting playgroup today, and only one of the ladies and her daughter were able to make it. We sat outside and had some coffee, the kids ran around and played. Walked down to Heidi's house, and the kids played there so well together. Winn and Maddy both had ear infections last week, so it has been a bit hairy around the E house. Oh yeah, Jeff was sick too:) Winn was so good today...I feel bad saying he hasn't been 'good', but I should say he hasn't been himself!!! I guess all we needed was a day outside. I think the Wisconsin March weather was very trying, and we are all looking forward to some nice, enjoyable weather. Don't you all agree? I will take any sunny and somewhat, warm day I can get around here. Once again, this is why I will be sad to leave this neighborhood. I had such a great morning, kids playing great, sunny day, and nice conversation with my wonderful neighbor. Again, can I just make my yard bigger, and expand the house a bit, is that too much to ask??

a bit behind....

2009-04-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

So I have been a little behind in my blogging lately. Probably because I feel like I have been in a vacation fog. I have sooooo many pictures of the kids from various outings, so I will write a small bit about a few and post some cute pictures.
I bought a membership to the Discovery World downtown. They have an aquarium there, a huge replica of a boat, amongst other 'discovering' things. The kids absolutely love it. We go way too often, but Maddy really enjoys it. She is learning so much there (mind you, its about fish and boats and the water treatment process????) It's fun to go down there with Jeff, then we can play man to man defense and it works much better.

Mid March we had a awesome little warm spell. We headed over to Wirth Park (the little wirth) to play specifically on the teeTTer ToTTer (I love to say that combination of words....imagine that). They are the only park that is near us that has one. Winn was like a mad max thunderdom there. He ran to the ladder, climbed up, ran across the movable bridge, and took off down the slide. He is much more of a dare-devil than Maddy was. I see the glimmer in his eyes...yikes!!

Get your peanuts here

2009-03-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

We went to the circus last week friday for the first time in many, many years. My parents wanted to take us, well, mostly Maddy. She could not contain herself! We told her about it 3 weeks prior, and she would ask every day. So the day finally arrived. We went out for fish fry (yes, Lent time) and hamburger for Maddy at Mjr Goolsby's, great place for a family dinner...ha ha. But seriously, there were lots of kids there, either for the circus or the Admirals game. But the fish was great! Then off to the circus. Little did we know that the circus is 3 HOURS LONG......
We had a great time, Maddy loved it. Whenever I looked at her, she was clapping or giggling at the clowns. It really was a fun time. They even shot someone out of the cannon, I was sure that the Shriner's circus would not have a cannon, but sure enough. I was seriously impressed by the elephants, I can't believe they can do some of those tricks???? There was this totally 80's guy in the cage with the tigers, running around to some hideous 80's rock/metal music...I didn't get a picture of that, but you can picture in your mind, black spandex, gold shoes, no shirt, hairy, typical 80's hair band guy...maybe you don't want to picture it!

Fingerpaint and Smoothies

2009-02-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

Today was a day of smoothies and finger paint! No...not finger painting with smoothies as someone did suggest. I had an idea to make homemade finger paint. It was a big mess, but lots of fun. Maddy liked getting messy, as did Winn. They had lots of fun digging into the paint, and SOMETIMES getting it onto the paper!
For snack today, Maddy helped me make smoothies. Someone from work told me about this recipe for spinach banana smoothies. Now, I was not very sure of this. I like spinach, but in a smoothie, yeah right. So. I tried them last week and the kids LOVED them, and myself too.

Here is the recipe:

~1 cup vanilla yogurt
~1 cup fresh spinach
~5-6 cubes of ice
~1/2 cup apple/grape juice
~1 banana
~a few times I have put tofu in, if that creeps you out, then just skip it! Tastes the same, but just more protein in it.

Mix all together in a blender and enjoy! It IS GREEN, but the kids apparently think that is great and they keep asking for the green smoothies! If I can get anything green into Winston I am a happy person.

We occasionally visit Cranky Al's. for pizza on Friday nights. We noticed that last week they had a sign for story time on Tuesday's at 10:00am. This is my off day, so that worked out great! Today we drove there since I had a few errands to run before that, but it is so close (7 blocks) that we can walk when it gets warmer out.
The story time was great, I felt bad for the people that we just there for coffee and conversation. With 20+ kids and 20+ moms (a few dads and grandmas, you could hear nothing but kids. But that is why we went. They are a very kid friendly place! We usually order out, but sometimes its nice to get out of the house!

Is it really 60 degrees?

2009-02-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

I am so happy that today is my off day. I know that the next 2 months are going to suck royally in regards to weather, as Feb and March usually do, but I am thankful for a day like today! We spent the morning at the zoo (big surprise for the Ehrhardt's), but it has been since October that we've been there. The kids loved running around, Winn especially! We ended up seeing some of the kids from our playgroup, so Maddy had fun with Audrey and Ava. Those 3 were holding hands running around the zoo, too cute!

Saturday was the first walk we took outside in what seems like forever. Maddy wanted to ride her bike, which was alright, except for the tons of puddles on the sidewalks. She made it halfway around the block before falling off into one of the puddles. I should have put her boots on! Can't remember everything! The kids finally got some fresh air, and slept good...hooray...mission accomplished!

what a feeling...

2009-02-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

Not sure if Jeff is going to like this or not (too bad sweetie), but...

Like father like son, need I say more...
you just can't see Winstons leg warmers, but they are there...yeah

Maddy's 3rd Birthday!

2009-02-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

Miss Maddy finally had her 3rd birthday party! Poor thing, her birthday is Dec 28th, and it seems to always get pushed to sometime in January. On her actual birthday, we bought her a cake and balloons and had a little celebration. For a month after, she was telling us that for her next birthday (meaning her party in Jan) she will be 4. It took some convincing, but she finally got the idea that she will be 4 NEXT year. No need to add a year on one month later. We had her party on Jan 25th, with mostly family and a few friends. It was a fun time, Maddy enjoyed her Cinderella cake immensely. She is such a girl...I wonder where that comes from???? She is insistant on picking out everything that is pink. We were out shopping for new shoes yesterday, and the lady brought out these hideous pink Mary Jane shoes. Of course, that is the pair she wanted. Thank goodness that they didn't fit quite right, and she was convinced (by the sales lady...not me of course) that the brown pair looked sooo cute.

am i still here

2009-02-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am still here! I feel like it has been forever since I made an entry. This time of year is particularly busy. With bowling, MU games, and many other random things probably not important to mention. Maddy and Winn are doing well. I do have to get some pictures of Maddy's 3rd birthday up. She is now 3...going on 6. I am convinced she has the mind of a 6 year old, but she is definitely 3. Winn has FINALLY gotten over his colds, ear infections, and crazy virus rashes, that we can now focus on using Jedi mind tricks to melt all the snow outside. I used to be a fan of winter, really...but this year I am sick of it. I think that when I did not have kids, and I could just go out and ski or run, I enjoyed winter. But I think now I am putting that temporarily on hold. We have been keeping busy over the past month. Doing any and everything to get out and run around somewhere. We have been frequenting the Big Backyard in New Berlin. It's pretty fun for the kids, they get to run around for a few hours, and I get to hope they sleep well when they get home. Look for more pics to come.

Dance Dance Dance

2009-01-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

The kids have now been letting me take their pictures together. This is an amazing feat. Most of my pictures of the kids are a big blur...Winston tries to eat the camera, Maddy is insisting on taking the picture, amongst other things. Winn has figured out how to climb into Maddy's bed, and I figured out that I can just remove the stool and that solves the problem (smarty pants). They love to hang out and play in the bed. I am not sure what the fascination is about, but it's pretty funny. I have to have my eyes on them at all times...monkey see monkey do.

For the past 3 months or so, Maddy has wanted to take a dance class (like cousin Liesl). I had to wait until she turned 3, and was potty trained. Check the second one, but waiting was all we could do. I found a ballet and tap class through the New Berlin park and rec dept. It is for 45 minutes on saturday mornings. Maddy was most excited I have even seen her. For the entire week, she had to wear her leotard, tights and skirt all around the house. So last saturday was the big day. We got there, put her ballet shoes on and ready to go. Or so I thought! Mads took a little while to "get used to" being in a class. She didn't appear nervous, just not sure what she should be doing! Dancing I told her!! She finally warmed up, and was soon twirling away, doing something that resembled an arabesque? It was too cute. She loved it and can't wait for next saturday. I recently found out that Liesl, who dances up in WI Rapids, just got a part in a show put on by the Minnesota Ballet. We are so proud of her! I think Maddy is taking after her aunt Mimi and Liesl.

So, the kids can share!

2009-01-02T12:15:00.001-08:00

We are always harping on Maddy and Winn to practice their sharing. Now, for a 1 yr old, this simply does not work. Maddy is generally really good with Winn, a bit possessive about her things at times. But, she she does do a pretty good job. Today I was cooking chicken soup and grilled cheese (we are all sick, yes the entire family), and I asked Maddy to play with Winston for a little while I got things going. this usually results in chaos, but today I was in the kitchen and heard the Geo-Trax going in the living room. I walked in expecting to find Maddy playing with it and Winn continually removing the train from the tracks. To my pleasant surprise, I saw Maddy helping Winston with the controller. It was very cute. Being the big sister often means being the boss, but in this case, they were playing so good together!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-31T11:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas was spent in pretty much the same fashion as it has been the past 7 yrs or so. We spend Christmas eve with Jeff's family, and Christmas day with mine. Christmas eve we have dinner and then off to church. The kids are still pretty little to really have an idea of what church is, but Maddy is aware that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. She knows about Mary and Joseph and the wise men, and then of course she is onto Santa and presents...what kid isn't?
We has a really nice time both Christmas eve and day, and being with the family is what it is all about.

Tumbling time

2008-12-12T10:46:00.001-08:00

Tracy and I frequently call each other on our off days, sometimes it might be at 7am, wondering when we will be meeting up, sometimes it might be 10 times in a few hours...those are days we definitely need to get the kids out of the house. Today was really one of those days, we just needed to let the kids run around for a while. We tried a new tumbling place on 60th and Lloyd, Wildcard Gymnastics. They have open gym from 9-11am for $5 a kid. Not too bad for a few hours of burning off energy. This place was great! When we got there, there was about 6 people total in there, it got a bit busier, but nowhere near the 50+++ at Swiss Turners! No foam pit to jump in, but if it's not there, the kids must have forgotten about it. We had a great time, the kids loved it. Winn and Emmitt are the perfect age to just be able to run and run and run, without getting into too much trouble. Maddy and Cooper had a blast. I cannot believe how good they were, even when we had to leave. We will definitely go back for more! Here are some cute pics of the little gymnasts...

snow, snow, more snow please

2008-12-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

Seriously, can it stop for a little while? Again, I am not opposed to the winter, but come on. Are we planning on topping the 100 inches last season? At this rate, I'll believe anything. 99% of the time, Jeff does the shoveling via the Snow Chief. I actually enjoy the old school shoveling, but with the kids it gets more challenging. Instead of taking an hour or so, it may end up doubling the time spent. Now there is no need for a two hour shoveling session, regardless of the great calorie burning:) The other day, Maddy wanted to go outside, so I decided to chip in and shovel that day. Winston is still a little hesitant about walking around with his boots, and is not completely sure of the snow, but I guess he'll figure it out. While I shoveled, Maddy too (not sure of the actual help there, but...) Winn stood there. I proceeded to shovel around him and left a little square that he did not move off of for a good 30 minutes! He is so funny!

The kids and I headed down the block for a little play date today. Maddy usually plays with the kids for half the time, then the other half is spent eating snacks. I forgot to mention that I do not feed my kids much... This morning, I made waffles in the waffle maker, and they each ate one. And a banana and orange. I seemed to think that this was enough, but no, an hour later at play group, they are acting like I forgot to feed them. Honestly. We had fun, its nice to visit with the ladies down the block! We are trying to plan a little wine and mommy time some Friday night! Hooray!

The start of snow!

2008-12-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

I think that when I started this blog, it was in the midst of winter. Well, it is here again! Except for Jeff (and countless others I am sure), I love winter! I love the snow, and wearing my hat and miTTens, and catching snowflakes on my tongue (kidding). But seriously, I really love the snow! The kids and I played outside today for a while. It lasted long enough for me to shovel the driveway, just about the time Winn decided he didn't want to wear his miTTens anymore, and took a header into the newly piled snow bank. That was pretty much the end of playtime. Maddy insisted on hot cocoa, yet was not happy until she let it sit long enough to get cold and...ending up cold cocoa. Go figure...
All in all, it was fun, and Jeff got a break from shoveling today, lucky!!

Madagascar 2 here we come!

2008-11-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

Tracy and I and the big kids (that would be Maddy and Cooper if you were wondering:)) are going to the movies this weekend. Are we crazy...yes...will it be nuts...yes...will it be worth it...of course! Adam will be hunting this weekend so we're looking to do something with the kiddos. I have never taken Maddy to a movie before, who knows what will happen. Now if we were seeing Cinderella, or Little Mermaid, I KNOW she would sit there. But this is a new one for Maddy. All she can talk about is Madagascar, and the fact that she will have popcorn and m & m's (?????). Apparently I have to bribe her. I will proceed to do what my parents did when we went to see a movie when we were kids. Sneak in popcorn and snacks and juice boxes...hopefully the movie police will not read this. Jeff will be watching Winston, it will be nice for both of us to have some one on one time with each of them! That really doesn't happen very often.
Tomorrow we have a Marquette game so the kids will have fun with G & G. It's off the Rudy's for some Mexican and Margaritas cha cha cha.

Bye Fall!!

2008-11-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

I found some pictures that I took of the kids a few weeks ago. Before we had to wear hats, mittens, and winter coats EVERY time we go outside. Fall went way too fast, and I guess winter is here. I consider it winter when I have to wear my hat, miTTens, and scarf. However, I am a sally, and I do get cold ofter. I wanted to have these cute pictures of the kids in a big leaf pile. This was all in my head of course, because there was no cooperation on the kids part. Maddy was telling me to stop taking pictures, and Winston wanted nothing to do with the leaves but eat them. Maybe in a few years we'll try again...

More chicken soup please...

2008-11-13T12:39:00.000-08:00

Kids are asleep, hooray. It really is not fair that you can't call in sick as a mom. If I could I would. I am sick (really) and its no fun to take care of the kids when you are sick. The one thing worse is if they were sick too. Knock on wood for that one, quick...There can only be enough TV time for kids. No more Thomas the Train, or Little People, please... I am begging you! We HAD to get out of the house today, a quick visit to the mall to burn off some energy. It was a bit too windy to be playing outside for too long today. The sick bug must be going around!
If you are interested, there are pictures of Jeff and I out for Halloween. The link is on the right side of the page, Que Sera Sera.

Winn's 1st B-day!!

2008-11-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

Our little Winston is now 1 years old. That sounds absolutely crazy to me. I was thinking that a year prior to this, labor was starting. Yikes! We had a small family birthday party on the 19th of October. Winn was cutting some teeth at this time (isn't it always something??), but he was so good and seemed to have lots of fun. I think he was most excited by the 6 dollars worth of balloons that I bought earlier in the day. He walked around all day with those things. It is now 2 weeks later and they are still in our house! G and G made the cutest cake for Winn, it was a baseball cake, appropriate for this family I suppose.

We also had a special Halloween/we forgot to sign happy birthday and open presents party for Winston...We had so much fun, here are some of the pictures from Halloween!!

Party time!

2008-11-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hooray for Halloween! The party went well, lots of kids running around, no rain, and lots of leftovers. What more could you ask for? I was so worried about rain and cold weather, however, the forecast was dead wrong, and the weather was great. We did halloween in the usual 72nd street fashion. Fire pit and cooler of beer on the front lawn, and lots of good company. The kids looked great in their costumes. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have hoped, I think I was trying to do too many things in a short span of time (imagine that). I think all the kids had fun trick or treating, and of course the dumping of candy all over the floor afterwards. Somehow there was blue frosting on a few of the doorknobs in the house, no idea of how that happened. Everyone left by 9 ish and Jeff, my Dad and I sat out by the fire pit for a while. It felt good to relax! I still have to upload my pictures so I will post them soon. If anyone has any good pictures, e-mail them to me and I can put them on!
Thanks for all the adorable gifts for Winn. He and Maddy are still learning the concept of sharing, which is no easy task, for a 2 1/2 yr old, or a one year old boy. Maddy better watch out, Winn is getting bigger...no taking things away from him anymore!!!

Halloween party

2008-10-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be hosting our first Halloween party/Winn's first b-day party this saturday. As most of you know, Jeff and I are extremely into Halloween, costumes, parties, decorating, the whole shebang. I was hoping to go all Martha Stewart on everyone and make all these fancy appetizers and desserts...and then I woke up from my dream of apparently having no kids. Who in their messed up world, has the time to do all that. I still am hoping to have a Halloween theme with the food and desserts, but we will see how that goes. I am trying to plan some fun games for the kids. However, what I am really hoping for is that the rain gods will be nice to us and at least not rain during trick or treat time. We will see.
I am excited to start a little halloween tradition and hoping that it will grow in the coming years.
I can't wait to see all the cute kiddos costumes!

Fashion plate

2008-10-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Is she a fashion plate or what?? I just got another bajillion bags of winter clothes for Maddy from Yasmin. I bring these clothes home, and I literally have to hide them or I will be attacked by the next America's top model. Maddy is so into clothes, I don't know where she gets that from (ok Jeff). She spent the hottest day this fall so far, in her scarf and hat...demanding that she wear them outside. Hello, is it 70 some degrees outside.

Fall is in the air...

2008-09-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

On saturday night, we headed out to Harvest Fest at State Fair Park. I always look forward to going, it usually signifies the start of fall, which is my favorite time of all. We got there and of course we had to pass all the rides. We happened to tell Maddy that there were not going to be rides there, maybe a hay ride. She was insistent that there were rides. So, we ended up doing a few rides. She had fun! We did get to go on a hay ride, Maddy thought she was pretty cool on that...
Jeff took her "fishing" and she was so excited to pick out a prize out of the bucket. She picked out 2 spider rings, which she wouldn't take off. My daughter, as you all know, loves food. She is my daughter, I wonder where she gets that from. She ate an entire corn on the cob...it was literally longer than her arms. I was planning on sharing it with her; I got 3 bites, not fair!!! All in all, it was a fun time. No love monkey's this year, harvest fest isn't the same without them!! Hey girls???

Maddy and her friends

2008-09-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

Maddy was so excited to watch the Brewer game on Sunday when she woke up from her nap. She proceeded to bring all of her "friends" into the living room to watch the game too. She is too funny. She lined them all (and I do mean all) in front of the TV so they wouldn't miss the Brewers win. Thank goodness they did. The Ehrhard't are very excited over here for post season Brewers playoffs. I was only slightly convinced that they would make it because my name didn't get drawn this year for the chance to buy post season tickets. Of course, last year my name was drawn via e-mail and I was able to purchase 2 tickets to the game that never happened. So it is in fitting fashion that they will go this year. But I can live with that!

New Blog

2008-09-26T17:58:00.001-07:00

I am now feeling compelled to start another blog. I think I am crazy, but that is not a surprise to most. I think I will try to devote the kiddos topics to this one and the rest to my new blog, Que Sera Sera. I think I have a blogging addiction, which I can thank Jenny for.

Kiddos

2008-09-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

Let's see...Winn is walking, or should I say running, everywhere. I am starting to see the not-so-subtle differences in boys and girls. Winn is a little monster man. I never really had to "child-proof" the house too much with Maddy. She just didn't seem to get into too much trouble. Winston on the other hand, opens everything, sticks his hands into the toilet any chance he gets, and for some reason enjoys the wine rack. Maddy calls him the wine racker. She is too funny. I guess I will need to lock cabinets and move things a bit for Hurricane Winston. Has there been one of those yet? If not, I am sure it is coming! Watch out.
Maddy is doing great. She is really into playing house and store, and has an incredible imagination.

My return to blog...

2008-09-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

Things have been extremely busy over the past month. I was out in Vegas for a conference for ACE which is the American Council on Exercise. It was a fitness symposium for health/fitness professional, and there was tons of great information presented. I am in the process of obtaining my personal training certification, in part for my new role at work, also for my personal life. I would love to start doing some personal training, one-on-one or small groups, away from work. This, of course, in my spare time (which can you guess, I have none at the moment). It was a good week away. My friend Jason came along with me, which was great! We had a fun time, learned to play craps, cashed in a poker tournament at Binion's, and lost my wallet...a within a few days! Yes, the squirrel loses her wallet once again. Imagine that, is this like the 3rd time this has happended??? Yes, actually it is. Enough said about that, I am not happy.
I am back to work, and that is good. Lots of things to catch up on, with the new job starting. I am not leaving my old job, just a role change. A good one! I will keep you updated, maybe guesting on Jenny;s new blog on weight loss/health/fitness.

I am still here!!

2008-09-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I realize that I have not posted in like 2 weeks. There has been a very sad and unfortunate event in our lives over the past 2 weeks. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. I will get back to the blog soon enough!

C.A.R.E.

2008-08-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

A good friend of ours, Kim Kozinski, organizes a golf outing to raise money for Alzheimer's. Her mom was diagnosed with this a few years ago and this will be the second year of the CARE golf outing. Last year, I was very pregnant with Winston and was not able to golf. I helped out with the set-up, auction items, etc. This year, I was excited to participate in the golfing. Now there was virtually no way in the world we could ever win (hello, I was on the team), but I was excited to be out for the day none-the-less. The outing was held at Songbird in Sussex, which is a shorter course, but still fun. Our foursome was Jeff, Joe K (the Commodore), Dom, and myself. We did ok for us, I think we tied placed 15th or 16th out of 30, so I was happy we were not last. Although, we would have won a prize if we were in last place. All went well, I hit really well off the tee, and actually chipped a few on the green. Second shot, not so much, but that is nothing out of the ordinary for me. The highlight (not really a highlight, but now is laughable), was when I got hit with a ball from someones drive. This really hurts like hell, let me tell you. I still have a huge black/purple bruise on my upper thigh. It's getting better, but really sucks. After golf, they had a lunch for the golfers, brats and chicken, etc. There was a silent auction to help raise money for CARE. We didn't bid on anything this year, but it wouldn't really have mattered because Neal aka Ninski Brothers co-owner bought EVERYTHING!! We ended up at 1 under and the winner was something like 15 under!! There was also a par 3 hole, where someone had the chance to win a cruise on Royal Caribbean or round trip tickets on JetBlue. It cost 10 bucks for the chance. Of course, we had to attempt that! I mean, what if, for some crazy reason, I actually hit the hole in one, or was the closest to the pin...and I didn't participate?? So I paid the $10 and hit well over the green and smacked into the fence. At least I got it over the huge water that was directly in front of me!!

Later that day, we headed out for a good friend of ours, Matt Alles. wedding. I will be posting some of the pictures and some video. Boy, this should be good!!! It was a great time, and great wedding. Perhaps the last of an era...

Bay Beach

2008-08-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

Friday morning, the kids and I headed up the Green Bay for a visit to Bay Beach. with Terri and Ben and the kids. If you're not familiar with Bay Beach, it is a park in Green Bay, that has lots of rides for kids for about 25 cents a piece. It is great! I bought $10 in tickets, and ended up giving some to the Nysse's. Oh, I forgot about the $2 pony ride for Mads. We packed a lunch, so I pretty much paid for gas and a few dollars worth in rides. It was a lot of fun! Maddy had fun with Will and Addy, while Winn pretty much held his own in the stroller. He did go on the carousel a few times, he thought that was pretty fun. Maddy's favorite was the motor boats, probably because she could reach the water from the boat. They both slept on the way home, hooray! It was a fun Friday! Now we'll be getting ready for the busy weekend of golf and weddings!! I will post some pics when I get them!!

So many fests...

2008-08-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

I was going a little stir crazy at home, so I called up my dad and we took the kids to Irish Fest. I was originally planning on returning to the Zoo, but really, how many times can one go to the zoo in a given week? I know that Tracy trumped me there with her 3rd visit. Granted it was Zoo Ala Cart, but still. I was there thursday and friday. I now have leftover tickets for food but what can you do?
So we went downtown to Irish Fest for a few hours. We had a really good time! It was ungodly hot, but ok in the shade. Maddy had fun dancing the Irish jig (I used to be able to do that in my day (that would actually be 2nd grade with Ms. Haberski the nun.)) We had some Irish stew and fish and chips and a few delicious Irish beers to top it off. And of course some ice cream! The kids had fun, I think just getting out of the house was nice. Jeff is on his way home, and is off tomorrow. We'll have to find something fun to do. I have my list of to do's: none of them fun for the kids, haircut, oil change, get bowling balls and grocery shopping...and no zoo!

Slip sliding away

2008-08-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

We take the kids to the park and slides ALL THE TIME. If I had a bigger yard, I would be putting up one of those Rainbow play sets. But for now, I am content with living so close to about 4 playgrounds. We usually stick with Enderis Park, which I love. It has swings, a bunch of slides, and a cute little wading pool (and a bathroom which we frequently visit now). The other choices are Roosevelt, which is an elementary school a few blocks away, or St Pius, which is one block farther. There are, of course, the super and super-duper slides, which are accessible via the car, but those are for special occasions.... St. Pius has a cool rock climbing wall and a tunnel slide that we started putting Winn down. He is so funny on the slide. He screeches and giggles all the way down, and apparently has no fear. Maddy was always a little timid with the slides until she got used to them. She is now used to them and loves them as much as Winn does. Here are a few clips of Winn & Maddy in the tunnel!

Hooray for blogger

2008-08-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

So, I am not as technologically incompetent as previously posted. I figured it out with the help of some "help groups." I finally have my template that I like, and I can customize if and when I'd like to! Yippy skippy! Now I just have to figure out how to stretch out my picture a bit.
I am sitting here watching the Packer preseason game AND the Brewer game and both are quite disappointing. Jeff is finishing his second to last night away at golf! This has really been a LONG weekend! I am glad that Jeff is usually around more often. I feel for the wives who have husbands that travel A LOT. It seems that the kids are testing me a bit more when I have them for extended periods of time by myself. I always feel silly for saying that, its not like I can't handle it, but its always so much easier (and calmer) when there is reinforcement. Jeff goes on this golf outing each August, this year from thursday night until sunday night. He reminds me that before we got married, he mentioned to me that he will always go on this golf outing. I don't care that he goes to this at all, I am just saying that its hard with the kiddos. Time for me to start planning the girls weekend. Just kidding, no I am not. We talked tonight, and he said its going well, I am glad that they had nice weather for it at least! I am looking forward to normalcy again!! Whatever that is...

Technologically incompetent, I didn't think I was, but apparently I am...

2008-08-16T10:19:00.001-07:00

I have been going crazy with this blog. I have been trying to change the template/format to get something more exciting! If anyone of my fellow bloggers out there have tried to upload new templates, let me tell you, it is a pain in the you know what. Somehow, I reverted my blog to the "old" blogger style and cannot return to the new one. That is what I get for trying to be technical! And, I think I now have viruses on my computer. I will blame it on Blogger...just kidding! So, please bear with me as I attempt to get a new style. This current one is stuck in there, I don't really care for it too much, but it will have to suffice until I can figure out what the h e double hockey sticks is going on. Enough said.....

Grill out

2008-08-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

I see that my posts are out of order! I have had no time to post anything. Like Jenny, I have too many pictures taken at too many events. I am now having time to load them on the computer. Anyways, Friday evening, we went over to the Ignatowski's to grill out and have the kids play together, and adults too! See below pictures. Maddy and Taylor were so cute together. They are 3 months apart, I hope they become friends like their parents! They were really cute towards the end of the night. Giggling in the Dora tent and giggling getting their jammies on. All kids went to bed great, then it was time for the adults to play. So we decided on the Wii. Jeff and I have played before, and I distinctly remember being a little sore the next day, I think from the boxing! We did some bowling, tennis, baseball. Then we moved to the WiiFit game, which is a series of fitness exercises (yoga, strength training, aerobics, etc). Jeff doing yoga poses was pretty darn funny! He did achieve yoga trainer, as I myself, was yoga master. This title, as you will read further on, did not bode me well. I must have done something wrong, because I woke up the next day and could not move. I woke up at 4am, and I literally could not move my neck or back in any direction. I was feeling very nervous about this. Now I have obviously experienced muscle soreness from lifting weights and running,etc. but NEVER like this. I was concerned that I really hurt something. After the kids had breakfast, I was still not able to move well. I could walk, but I couldn't rotate my body at all. Jeff took me to Froedert and after some drugs, I was feeling better. I strained my trapezius muscle, which is the large triangular shaped muscle in your upper back. I was instructed to take lots of ibuprofen and muscle relaxers, as appropriate and percocet if needed. That day, I felt really bad, but after a good day of rest I feel that I am back to normal. I feel so silly! The MD's at Froedert said they have been waiting for the Wii related injury. Mine did not qualify, as I didn't dislocate my shoulder or anything like that. Of well, got to keep things exciting here.

A Day at the Fair

2008-08-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday we spent the morning at the fair. Maddy had a good time, she loved all the animals, but kept looking for the rides. She must think that every "festival" will have rides. Little did she know, that we skipped over the Midway section of the fair, and focused more on the animals and food part. She did get to pet one of the cows, and she was quite excited. We went to the fair straight from breakfast, so we weren't particularly hungry, but how can anyone pass up the ice cream sundae booth, or the milk booth, or the baked potatoes, or the..... Maddy and I split a strawberry sundae, I stole most of it (shame on me). Jeff and I both took a turn taking Maddy down the "giant" slide, she could have went down all day, but that was enough for Jeff and I! I was hoping to make it down to the fair with the adults, but that is not to be this year! At least we got to go, and Maddy and Winn enjoyed themselves, I think.

Islands in the stream

2008-07-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic trip to the Bahamas! Short, but sweet... It was such a beautiful place, I cannot wait to go back. This first group of slides is from the resort where we stayed, Atlantis. This resort was on Paradise Island, which is the touristy part of the Bahamas. This resort was absolutely gorgeous and huge. It pretty much took us about a half hour to walk from one end to the other.

Jeff and I decided to go on a sailing and snorkeling adventure while we were down there. For me, this was the highlight of the trip. I have been in the ocean a handful of times, but only a little ways out past the shore or beach. I was psyched that we decided to book this. For $60, we sailed out about 45 min past the dock, and anchored. We pretty much jumped out of the boat into the ocean and got to snorkel for about an hour. It was amazing! I regret not having an underwater camera because I cannot explain how gorgeous it was. We were in about 20-30 feet (maybe), some parts deeper some more shallow near a reef. We saw sea turtles, tons of fish (Maddy was excited that we saw Dory fish), jellyfish, and other fish I am not sure what they were! But it was amazing...for 3 1/2 hrs and 60 bucks.

We enjoyed a nice dinner at Mesa Grille, which is a southwestern style restaurant by Bobby Flay, all my food network pals out there. It was insanely expensive for dinner, as well as every other food item at the resort. For one round of drinks, a glass of wine (a generous one, however) and a T and T was $36, not including tip. Yikes!!!! The entire trip was like this. They really get you in the food and drink department, but what can you do? Jeff had a delicious steak (imagine that), and I had a tuna steak (fresh from the ocean). The food and hospitality on the island was fantastic. I cannot remember a time when someone didn't ask us how we were enjoying our dinner, the trip, etc. The Bahamian culture and people were wonderful. We didn't get a chance to visit the straw market for shopping due to crazy rain on saturday afternoon and night, and again on sunday morning when we left.
We also spent lots of time in the casino, imagine that as well, Jeff and I in a casino???? Lots of blackjack. We did alright, no big wins or losses, but it was lots of fun. Makes me want to go to Vegas again. Oh wait, I am going to Vegas. Early September for a work conference.....no gambling for me, only work, work, work!!!

We had a great time, missed the kids, but I can't wait to go back. Maddy wants to go back next time. We'll see...maybe if we win the lottery...

Bahama Mama

2008-07-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

2 days and counting...
Our trip to the Bahama's is upon us. Somehow it crept up really fast! Jeff somehow won another trip from Fidelity, I cannot complain about that. So we are off to Nassau, Bahamas for 3 nights. I am really excited for a little R & R. Jeff and I aren't usually the lay around type people (on vacations that is...not football Sunday's), but I guess that I can force myself to lay on the beach, next to the ocean, sipping some fru fru cocktail concoction...
We are planning on doing some snorkeling, and some other excursions I would presume, but honestly, I am looking forward to the for mentioned. I am exited for some beautiful scenery, warm weather and lots of sun. I hope the weather holds up. Our last trip to the Caribbean, we ran into Hurricane Ivan. We had to divert our cruise a bit, still had fun, but the weather was a bit gloomy. This time, no boat, just a visit to Paradise Island, Atlantis Resort. I'll post more when we return. Hopefully I'll get some nice island pictures! See ya later!

tag I'm it

2008-07-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Another blog tag, I do like them though!!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:30am...not by my choice, obviously
2. Diamond or Pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw? Does Disney's Beauty and the Beast count?
4. Who always supports you? Jeff
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Shredded wheat on weekdays, eggs toast and bacon on weekends!!
6. What is your middle name? Ann
7. What food do you dislike? Seafood
8. What is your favorite CD? Any George Strait CD
9. What type of car do you drive? Toyota Rav4
10. Favorite sandwich? Any sandwich made by someone else. I am not a big fan of sandwiches, unless they are fancy ones with field greens and chipotle mayo and all that fun stuff
11. What characteristics do you despise? Arrogance
12. Favorite item of clothing? Old comfy jeans
13. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? Italy
14. What color is your bathroom? Sky Blue
15. Favorite brand of clothing? I'm not too particular about my clothes
16. Where will you retire? Here
17. What was your most memorable birthday? 21st
18. Favorite sport to watch? Football, please Favre don't ruin this for me
19. Furthest place you are sending this? Not sure about that one...Wisconsin Rapids, I'm real adventurous
20. Who do you expect to send this back to you? Bloggers
21. Person you expect to send it back first? I have only one other friend that blogs, Jason
22. Favorite sayings? Anything where I can stress my "t's"
23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning
24. Pets? 2 fish
25. What did you want to be when you were little? A brain surgeon
26. What are you today? Exercise Physiologist
27. What is your favorite candy? Smarties
28. What is your favorite flower? Peoney
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? July 24th, Jeff and I leave for the Bahamas.....yeah baby
30. What are you listening to right now? TiVo So you think you can dance
31. What was the last thing you ate? Vanilla bean ice cream
32. Do you wish on stars? Yes
33. Do you believe in Angels? Yes, yes, yes
34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Magenta
35. Pet peeves? Lateness
36. Favorite Television show? LOST
37. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Jeff
38. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes
39. Favorite soft drink? Diet Coke
40. Favorite restaurant? Rafters
41. Hair Color? Brown
42. Siblings? 2 brothers
43. What do you like most about yourself? I am easy going
44. What was your favorite toy as a child? PlayDough
45. Summer or Winter? Winter
46. Hugs or kisses? Kisses
47. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate
48. When was the last time you cried? Sad movie
49. What is under your bed? Dust bunnies
50. What did you do last night for dinner? Chicken on the grill
51. Favorite smell? Cookies fresh out of the oven
52. How many keys on your key ring? 7
53. How many years at your current job? 10
54. Favorite day of the week? Friday
55. Do you make friends easily? Yes

Pool Party!

2008-07-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love a good pool party? With the temperature at a scorching 90+, we opted to take Maddy and Winn over to the Lee's to visit Cooper and Emmitt. Nothing like a dip in the cool water on a hot day. The kids had a fun time, Maddy and Cooper enjoyed dumping buckets of water on Auntie Tracy's lawn the best! Winn took a couple of whole body dives into the deep end (Tracy has a fancy deep and shallow end in her pool, ah the ammenities of Brookfield). Emmitt wasn't all too excited today, though he is much the fish. We had a little lunch after, and were home in time for naps! I hope we wore them out enough to sleep for a few hours...

It's not easy being green

2008-07-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to try a little harder to be more environmentally aware. I have bought some reusable bags from Whole Foods for $.99 a piece, and I get something like $.10 per bag off of my bill at Pick N Save and Sendiks. So I guess they have paid for themselves already. My neighbor is a very environmentally friendly person. Maybe that is where I am getting the push from. She is on the "progressive" end of the environmental issues, whereas I am teetering somewhere in la la land. I know that I should be more cognisant of these issues, but it's not easy. Last saturday, my neighbor and I visited the West Allis farmers market, Jeff seems to think that this is funny. Most likely because a) he does not know the difference between a zucchini and an asparagus or b) he does not eat vegetables (only carrots and corn). Perhaps a combination of both. I spent $15 and bought tons of delicious veggies: broccoli, patty pan squash, zucchini, cucumbers, peas, beans, and lettuce. First of all, the grocery store usually has crappy produce, and its always so expensive. Second, there is something great about buying local produce from "your own backyard." I would say that I would like to do this all the time, however, I know realistically this is not going to happen.

Enough of my crazy ranting...

More festivals...

2008-07-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I took the kids to St Dominic's festival on Saturday evening. We were looking for something outside to do, and when Jeff mentioned a festival, Maddy was instantly hooked. We brought this up in the morning and she was just beside herself all day. When she woke up from her nap, she shot up and said "Are we ready to go to the festibal??" So we had to find one fast. We were going to attempt Bastille Days, but it's not too kid friendly, no rides or games or anything like that. So we googled church festivals milwaukee and came up with St Dominic's in Brookfield. We got there around 4ish and planned on feeding the kids and getting dinner there. Now Maddy remembers the rides from St Roman's festival a month or so ago. Apparently, it is the same festival group that did Romans's because Jeff recognized the carnies!! Yikes!! So Maddy and Jeff and I went on 5 rides or so, including the Bee's, the cars and teapots. It was a great time, we had a lot of fun and the kids were really good. Last time at the festival, Maddy was not too happy to leave, but this time she was great! However, on the way out, she said "The rides will be here for me when I wake up, right??" Not so much...
Sunday was golf at Kettle Hills in Germantown. We had a scramble as part of Jeff golf "league". We had 16 golfers in 4 teams of 4. On the 4th of July, I was one of four chosen to be captain. I randomly chose my dad, Anne, and Jeff as part of my team, which is pretty funny. I am pretty bad, but I still enjoy playing and being outside, and a break from kiddos is nice too! We were getting 2 strokes for 18 holes, technically the worst team! The front 9 we did really bad, but the back 9 we shot so much better. I think we had 3 birdies, which is more than any of the other teams, however we tied for last. At least we technically weren't last... All in all, it was a great time! I don't get the chance to go out and golf hardly ever, but when I get the opportunity I will jump at it. I know it's a lifelong sport, so I have lots of time to perfect my game (or at least attempt to break 120?????)
Afterwards, Jeff and I and the kids went to watch Steve Serbiak play little league. He happened to be playing at a park a few miles away from our house. We had a little picnic dinner and attempted to watch the game. Maddy had fun watching the kids play baseball. I wonder if she will be interested in playing soon, maybe next summer! Jeff would be in heaven...

4th of July...and the 3rd and 5th and 6th

2008-07-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

What a busy past few days! This is one of my favorite holiday's of the year, next to Halloween of course. I like our simple tradition that consists of marching in the Wilson Park parade, the Ehrhardt 4th of July party, and of course fireworks! This year, we added a few random commitments, but all in all, it was a pretty good weekend. Unfortunately, the week started out with Winn getting the dreaded hand, foot and mouth disease, which simply is a nasty virus with a high fever and rash. Great, lots of fun there! Poor little boy, he did pretty good considering how he was feeling.
Thursday the 3rd, Jeff and I went out to dinner with Mary Jo and Scott at Ristorante Bartolotta in downtown Tosa. It was a nice night out without the kids. It was great to enjoy a delicious dinner and not have to eat food cold, or cut food up, or convince someone to eat playing silly games the entire time! Imagine! We had reservations at 5:30, Jeff's parents were watching all 4 kids while we sat and enjoyed a relaxing dinner (does that seem fair????). After dinner and a few drinks later, we decided that we should splurge and have dessert, which is usually skipped at these "nice dinners". Mary Jo and myself had tirimasu, while Jeff opted for the banana chocolate cake. Scott went a bit off the board and chose some grapefruit shaved ice...with some kind of liquor shot poured on top. In west allis terms, this is considered a Snow Cone, but in Tosa, we step it up a bit. After dinner, in our nice getup, we headed over to the Club Tap for a post dinner drink. Now, at dinner, Jeff was talking about Schlitz beer, re-brewing their old classic Schlitz recipe. Apparently, it is extremely hard to get your hands on cases of this product. Once and a while, I enjoy the taste of a cold beer (????) (once and a while???). Sometimes even the old school one's. We walk into Club Tap, and see signs posted all over for the new (old) Schlitz beer. So we decided to have 1, or 2, and they were great! Nothing like an ice cold brew on a hot summer night!
The next day, we woke early for the parade. We march in the Wilson Park parade every year, I joined in when I met Jeff, but he has been doing this since as long as he can remember! Now, this parade is like no other. You ask, why? Are there floats...no, are there marching bands...maybe, but a really small one, are there horses or other animals...definitely not. What there is at this parade is a lot of people marching with flags and decorated bikes, strollers, scooters, headed towards one common goal...ice cream. We march about 6 blocks or so up 20th and down 16th street to Wilson Park. I joke, but it really is pretty fun! It is a time where I get to catch up with some of the girls, have a beer from Mr G at 10:00am, and have a mini cup of ice cream at the end. Maddy really enjoyst he parade, but especially the ice cream after too. Winn got his first taste, and he thought that was pretty great. I will get some pictures in a slide show soon too!

After parade time, we seem to have out own little traditions. The boys go and get the keg of beer and ice (somehow we always end up with the perfect amount), and the girls run to Kohls for some clothes. I always seem to dress wrong. We plan to spend the entire day at the Ehrhardt's party, and I never seem to pack enough for temperature changes, etc. So every year, I am either buying pants or shorts because it got too cold or too hot. The party was lots of fun. The kids had a pretty good time, again, despite being a little under the weather. We watch the fireworks at 9:30or so down by the creek. We are a bit far from where they light them off, but its nice not to have to leave home to see them! I love fireworks! Maddy, once again, did not make it to the fireworks. She had quite a fever, and went to bed pretty early. Next year I hope!!!
Saturday was my friend Tara's wedding day! What a gorgeous day for a wedding, couldn't have been better. The ceremony was held at Elmbrook Church followed by a reception at Bristlecone Pines Country Club. Fancy schmancy place! A night of dancing, and friends. Cheers to Tara and Justin!

Sunday Jeff and I played in a poker play-in tournament. I was first knocked out (my goodness) and Jeff took 4th, no cash and no entrance to the Tournament of Champions. Maybe it wasn't meant to be, all weekends through mid August seemed to be booked up.
I am glad to get back to some sort of normalcy around here, if there is such thing.
Our holiday weekend was great, hectic, fun, and tiring, but I still love it!!

Tired Princess

2008-06-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

We went over to the Smith's for a cookout on Saturday evening. It was great to catch up with everyone. The kids had a blast together. The Hannes's, Smith's and ourselves all have girls about the same age. Throw in Leo and Winn and you have your starting Bucks line-up. The Smith home is now called the home of costumes! Leo, Maddy and Clare were trying on costumes for half the night! It was so funny to see them running around in Spider Man, bees, lady bugs, and of course princesses! The kids played so nice together. We played outside for a while, Dave brought a kite, which the kids absolutely loved. I hate to say, but I am jealous (not in a really bad way) of the gorgeous yard that we could run around in, and all the great space to play inside! Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE where I live, but I would REALLY love more yard and more room!! Mark reminds me that there is lots of land out by their home, and I remind him that I can't live that far away, not to mention that our money tree needs A LOT more water!!
It was so nice to see everyone (and not just for poker) for a night of delicious food (Mark makes the best chicken), good wine, and of course good friends! We always say we need to get together more, but I am hoping that we can keep it up.

Bowling Night~

2008-06-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

This past monday, our Monday ladies bowling team went out to dinner. We have always gone out to dinner, usually in the summer, courtesy of our money that we win during the season. Somehow (and I mean somehow), we won the first half, and then lost the second half so we ended up with a decent amount of money for each of us. We decided on Mr. B's, which is one of the Bartolotta restaurants, in Brookfield. We had some drinks and some delicious steaks, again courtesy of West Allis's own, AMF bowling center. Despite the 40 degree temperature inside, it was very nice to catch up with everyone. Looking forward to the new season. I guess I'd better get that new ball picked out...do you think that will help my measly 137 average???

Get up, get outta here, gone

2008-06-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

A day at Miller Park with Maddy

1. Get to the parking lot
2. Potty
3. Get grill going and dogs ready to eat
4. Potty
5. Open beer
6. Potty (oh that was me)
7. Finally get up to our seats. 4th last row, terrace level...you guessed it.
8. Potty

And it continues on. That is the breaks when we started the potty training. Potty every hour, but what can you do? 2 weeks in and going pretty darn good.

We had a work outing at the brewer game on Sunday afternoon. It was a perfect day, blue skies, open roof (for a little while at least), dogs on the grill, a few beers, and a Brewer victory! What could be better on a Sunday afternoon? We took Maddy to the game, she was sooo excited to go to the Brewers stadium. I wasn't sure how she would do, considering we were skipping the nap, and got there at 10:30am. She did great! With the exception of a few tears (very tired little peanut), and numerous trips to the bathroom, it was a great game. We saw lots of Home runs, followed by Bernie Brewer and the slide and fireworks. That was Maddy's favorite part of the day...and eating licorice. Have to tempt them with something, right? We took a small trip to the play area, and Maddy somehow roped up into buying her a Hart t-shirt. But otherwise, we made the entire game without a hitch. After the 4th inning or so, "they" decided to close the roof. Jeff and I were completely annoyed, until we saw the downpour outside. We had a mad dash back to the car, and I mean we were really booking it. It was pouring all the way back to the car, but we made it back and no sooner than we got out of the lot, Maddy was snoring in the back seat. All in all, it was a great day. We can't wait to take Maddy back, don't they have any 9:00am games, or 4:00pm games, that would really work great for nap time!!!! ha ha

Happy Fathers Day

2008-06-18T10:42:00.001-07:00

I am a few days late with this post, we had such a busy weekend. First, I want to wish a happy father's day to my 3 favorite fathers, Jeff, my dad, and Jeff's dad. What would we do without you? Jeff is such a great father to Maddy and Winn. Maddy was so excited for fathers day, she told Jeff the second he walked in the door what we got him. Unfortunately, we went shopping on friday, so she was a few days too early!
Friday Jeff was off of work, so we took advantage of the day. We ran some errands and played outside, and then met up with the Sigourney's at the festival. Maddy had such a fun time with her cousins. She pretty much went on every ride that she was "allowed" to go on. Jeff and I went on a few with her, while Liesl and Joe the rest. Most of the rides were 36 inches or accompanied by an adult. I am not exactly sure how tall she actually is, maybe pretty close. But then again, we were at south side st romans festival and the carnies could really care less if she is 36 inches tall. She wanted to ride this little Dragon roller coaster, which was labeled 48 inches, or accompanied by an adult. Now I know she can't be 48 inches so I thought she might have a hard time getting on that one. Joe and Maddy decided to go on together, so I guess Joe passed himself off as an adult. Just shy by 9 or so years...
Saturday, again the festival (the kids couldn't get enough) and then off to CCPL poker for the night. Maddy and Winn spent the night by Grampy and Grammie.
Jeff and I didn't fare well in poker. We both were knocked out before the money. Jason won again, 3rd time this season. Jeff, my dad, and I all will qualify for the play-in event for the tournament of champions. So, there is still hope. I did, however, make $42 for the bad beat jackpot. Losing my A's with King kicker to nothing other than a straight flush, are you kidding me? Ah, such is life, at least I made some sort of money that night.
Sunday, we spent some time with my mom and dad and the kids. They were great overnight, usually are, but sometimes you never know. Then we headed home for naps, which did not happen, boooooo. Then off to SRF for the final day. More rides, some music and a few beers later we were ready to call it a weekend. Back to home to rest and start the week all over again. I am exhausted.

St Romans Weekend

2008-06-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

Ah, St Roman's Festival Weekend...the kick-off of summer, a favorite meeting place, and of course the place where Jeff and I first met. Yeah, yeah, Shmoopie Shmoopie...But, truly, this weekend is always a pretty fun time. Most everyone knows the story when Jeff and I first met. We actually met at the SRF beer paddle booth. Myself, Terri, Ben, and Joanne (maybe Tracy) were working at the beer paddle booth. What, you ask is the beer paddle booth?? No, its not where you purchase a nice cold refreshing beverage, it is where you buy paddles and cases of beer are raffled off for $1 per paddle. When Jeff and I met, him and his buddies were playing the beer paddle game for approx 4+ hours. My dear sweet Jeff, must have donated a large sum of money to the "kids" at St. R's that night, AND accumulated lots of beer. Joanne and I helped Jeff and best-friend-Joe carry about 20 cases of beer back to Joe's parents house that night after the festival had ended. Jo and I left the house, and I began to ponder about that cute guy in the Packer hat. Lo and behold, Mrs Serbiak (also working in the booth) knew Jeff well, and I proceeded to get his phone number from her. Unbeknownst to me, Jeff was also getting MY number from Mrs Serbiak. I gave him a call a few days later and the rest is history. HOWEVER, little know fact, I actually met Jeff and "the guys" 2 years prior to that night. Jeff and best-friend-Joe invited me to his parents annual 4th of July party. I went with Terri and her family, and nobody remembers me being there. I must have made a wonderful impression that nobody (with the exception of Terri) remembers me! I find it funny, and very ironic, that we met again, same time, same place, but just 2 years later.
For the first few years (pre kids) we would work at the booth every year. It is always a great time, lots of fun, free beer, good music, and the use of indoor bathrooms!! We will not be working this year, but attending as always. Leave it to Mrs G to come through with some free pitchers :) We'll make a little run through tonight with the kids. Liesl and Joe are coming into town for the weekend and Maddy can't wait to ride some of the rides at the festival! Sat night is poker CCPL final event, a must win situation. We'll see, updates to follow!

I wonder what Bart Adrian is really like?

2008-06-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG - Some time ago, I promised Jenny I would make "occasional" appearances as a guest host. In baseball circles, playing back-up players instead of starters is known as "the Sunday lineup." Ned Yost is known for this, as he often gives Joe Dillon, Craig Council, Mike Rivera, and Gabe Kapler a chance to play. I'm not sure I agree with Ned's need to play them ALL at once...but I guess that's why he is a big-league manager (with a losing record). Seems fitting I am blogging on this Sunday night.

This weekend, things started normally, as we did some shopping - a new bike (and helmet) for Maddy. Then, all heck broke loose when weathermen took over my Saturday afternoon TV. I guess, when you lead the glamorous life they lead, a weekend of weather like this is your Superbowl and the opponent is Mother Nature. "Big Momma N" really "brought it" this time - completely dominating the area with flash-floods, tornadoes, hail, and whatever else she could think of. In times like this, I normally turn to the cool, calm, collected, and soothing reassurances of one Bart Adrian, Fox News 6. If you, like I, need to "get to know Bart" just a little more...here is the link. I for one was surprised to learn Bart and Vince Condella go way back. Man, I wish I could have partied with those guys when I was in college. For a closer look, Bart Adrian.

The weather brought a somewhat expected and all-too familiar result...flooding of the Ehrhardt (Tom and Pat - not Jeff and Jen) basement! For those that have never ventured down below at 2234 Leroy, let me paint a little pre-flood picture for you. What was once my bedroom is now a Goodwill. Need to replace that missing 7 iron? The basement has an assortment to choose from. Dot matrix printer (and/or paper)? Got you covered. Cash register from the old drug store? Still works (we think)! Need info fast? Forget the internet. Reference the complete 1974 Brittanica encyclopedia. Hankerin' for a cold beverage? Enjoy some Mountain Dew (see photo) labeled 1995!

Add 5 inches of water to this equation...and THAT makes for a perfect Sunday. All we needed to do was cancel the tee-time, drop the kids off with Grampy and Grammy K, put on the waders and hazard gear, and head to my folks house to begin project clean-up (aka "throw stuff out). 25 bags of fun later...well...you get the picture...and it case you don't...take a look.

All in all, we made a good dent in cleaning-up the mess. We might need to spend a little more time getting the house back in shape, but things are under control, for now. If only Bart would stop talking about the additional heavy rain we are expecting the rest of the week. That's enough for now - see you next time Ned puts in the "Sunday line-up."

Jeff cools off with a Bartles & James (left over from the last Packer Superbowl party)? Plus a few other "found" treasures.

Jen contemplates starting that personal trainer business with newfound equipment.

Flowers

2008-06-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ok (as promised to my friend Jenny) here are some of the flowers around the home this time of year! My peonies are in full bloom. My wish is that I could freeze them just as they are about to open fully. That is when I love peonies. They are so short lived, however, but still my favorites...

I cannot wait until our next home when I can start a vegetable garden. Where we live now, there is barely enough room to put a table and chairs, let alone a garden. When I grew up we had a huge vegetable garden...beans, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, kohlrabi, broccoli, cucumbers, and probably more but I cannot remember. We used to sneak in and pick off all the tomatoes and pea pods and eat all the raspberries. How could my parents really be upset if we were sneaking around eating vegetables??????
Next blog, we can look forward to a guest blog appearance by Jeff. He will be reviewing this past weekends storms.

Another beautiful day

2008-06-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Once again, we hit another gorgeous June day. I am ignoring the remainder of the weather for the rest of the week. I will not allow for rain and thunderstorms all week...as if I could actually make that happen. I will settle for the nice weekends. We got a lot of outdoor work done on Sunday. We started the day off with John's for breakfast, which in my opinion is the best around. It amazes me that Maddy knows where we are for breakfast, and what she can have. For example, John's is blueberry pancakes, Hienemann's is clowncakes, etc. She now has a taste for eggs, and anything else she can get her hands on. Winn is eating as good as his sister. It took a while to get him used to the whole food thing, but he sure has figured it out. We started to give him CHeerios and he just loves it! He must feel like he is a big boy sitting at the table eating his O's!! Winn has figured out the crawling...watch out big sister! He is everywhere now, I have to be very careful of Maddy's little toys now that he can get to anything he wants.
We spent the afternoon outside fixing up the yard, adding more mulch, weeding, and all that other fun stuff. It looks one hundred times better already and we still have a few more things to touch up. Next step is fixing up the garage. It has some small holes in the bottom, and looks horrible. We may be having my Dad come and do the siding for the garage. We've been here for 5 yrs now and are in sore need of the garage repairs.
Anyways, the weekend was great! See you all soon...

5K day!

2008-05-31T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today some girls from work and I ran a 5K at Frame Park in Waukesha. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to run, a perfect day for a race! Race...what am I talking about? I was just hoping to actually finish the race. I did, in a whopping 31 minutes. Usually when I run, I run between 5.2mph and 5.7mph on the treadmill. Let me change the word run to jog, because in essence that is what I am doing. That equates to about 11min miles, or so. 6.0mph would be a 10 min mile. So today, I was running at a faster pace than I normally would train. It went pretty good, the last 1/2 a little rough, but I made it through. It does give me the itch to start training for a half, but then I wake up to reality and realize I must be a crazy person. Maybe when I have a bit more time on my hands, again, not sure when that would ever exist. Jeff and the kids came out also to cheer me on, which was nice. It was held at frame park, which is a course that runs around a park with a river (people were water skiing today), and also had a huge playground area, which Maddy absolutely loved! She is at the perfect age now, she is not afraid to go up and play by herself, or with other kids. And again, the weather was 70 degrees and sunny with a little wind, what could be better.
I have been keeping up with Jason's blog. He is now out in Las Vegas with Dan, another CCPL member, at the WSOP. I will add a few notes about anything exciting that goes on, if anyone is interested! Jeff and I have a Brewer game tonight, hopefully it will go as well as last night, and the roof beTTer be open tonight!!!
Talk to all later!

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hooray for the holidays!! We spent the day Saturday and overnight up in the Dells at Chula Vista with the Ehrhardt's and Sigourney's. The weather was great! Everyone is so used to the gloomy and cold weather that is Wisconsin's Memorial Weekend. However, we had clear, blue skies and warm weather. What could be better?
On our way up, Jeff decided to take a small detour though Merrimac for a little surprise for Maddy. When Jeff was growing up, they used to take the ferry that crosses the Wisconsin River between Sauk and Columbia counties.

We drove to Merrimac to catch the ferry, and stopped on the other side for a snack and stretch. It was fun to cross the river, I can't remember if I have ever been on a ferry. As were were getting the directions from our GPS, we headed out towards the freeway. We drove through Lodi and then headed back onto the interstate. I was reading my book, not paying too much attention to where we were going, and Jeff asked me if we had passed this exit already. We realized that we took the ferry in the wrong direction. We were supposed to catch it in Lodi and take it to Merrimac. So we had to backtrack a bit, but it still was a fun little excursion.
We arrived at Chula Vista and rang the doorbell for about 15 min. Jeff was convinced that we had the wrong room because no one was answering the door, but finally Nana let us in and vacation began. The kids played in the big indoor water park on saturday afternoon. It was a little cool for outdoor swimming, but good thing for indoor Dells! The kids had so much fun together, playing in the pool, running around the condo and getting into mischief....
After the little one's (Mad and Winn) went to bed, good as always, Jeff had a surprise for everyone. He had recently purchased an Argus 300, for those unfamiliar with this ancient piece of equipment, it is used for viewing slides (yes I said slides). Jeff's parents slide projector broke a while back and he has been wanting to view the slides of his parents when they were young :) and also of Mary Jo and himself. So he bid and won an Argus slide projector in Ebay for the low price of
3.99 with a shipping fee of 18.00. It was well worth it! Jeff's dad brought some slides (just 15 or so boxes????????????) and we spent the night viewing slides. It was quite fun, seeing Jeff's parents in all the weddings they stood up in, the kids when they were little, and some of the other relatives! I know my parents have a lot of slides also, so I am sure there is a Krause slide night coming up sooner than we think.
In the morning we headed out to breakfast and spent the morning playing. Jeff and I headed back to Milwaukee for the annual CCPL Memorial Day Tournament at the Serbiak's. Jeff and I really needed to cash at this event in order to be in the running for the Tournament of Champions. Jason's blog listed on the right, has some hands and some good updates on the event. Jeff was out fairly early, I was bubble boy, one away from cashing so that was pretty disappointing. But we had a fun time! I moved a bit up in the standings, hopefully enough to make it in the play-in event for the TOC. Jason won the tournament, which I hope was just the start of some good poker and winning for his trip out to Vegas for the WSOP.
Jeff's parents brought the kids back on Monday afternoon. The day was great, 80 degrees or so! Again, unheard of in WI over Memorial Day weekend. We played at the park, grilled out and had a great day.

WSOP 2008

2008-05-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in a very long time. We have been so very busy, out of town the last 2 weekends. A few notables of events in the past week. Last saturday Jeff and I played in an annual World Series of Poker event. There was approximately 32 people playing and the top 6 would be paid out. A few years ago I made the final table, but this year, I was knocked out 12th, missing the final table by 2 players. My hand was pocket 7's, the flop came 4d, 7h, Jc. So, I was sitting here with trip 7's, no possiblity of a straight or flush on the board. I raise a decent amount and Joe J calls. We are the only players in the hand. The turn is a 9d. I again bet big and I get a call. I was pretty confident that I had the best hand, so the river comes Qh, and I go all in. I was sure that Joe wasn't holding a 8, 10 to make the straight, and there was no flush. He calls, and says, you got the straight? I did not, I show my trip 7's, and he flips over the pocket jacks, making trip Jacks. I wasn't a very happy camper to say the least. But I had a fun time. Pete took 4th place, and Don took first (first time for a repeat win). One funny thing that happened was a guy had a dinner to attend at 5pm. We started playing cards at 2pm. He was playing really aggressive to get rid of his chips (I am not sure why he was even playing in the first place), but of course he kept winning hands. This would only happen when you would not want to win (again, I ask, why anyone would do this???) Long story short, Chris M was posting blinds and mucking cards until Nate returned. Normally this would not be allowed to happen at a tourney, but is was a friendly game. He made it to the final table. Too funny. He had $50 left and was all in with a 5, 10 against Kings.

The board comes 4, 8, 6. With no money left, the was no betting. Turn was a 7 giving Nate (again, not present) a straight. The next hand he was all in again, and lost. Finally the game could return to normal. We had a fun time, no cash, but still some good poker and conversation.

Dance, dance, dance

2008-05-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, the kids and I headed up to Wisconsin Rapids for Liesl's dance recital. Jeff was golfing on Sunday, we went up by ourselves for the day and then the plan was to come home on Monday. The way up went pretty well, Maddy and Winston slept most of the way (3hrs) which was nice! Liesls dance recital was great. She was in 3 numbers, and all were in the second half. She did so well! I was so glad that Liesl asked me to go. I think maybe next year Maddy might be able to sit through. She was so excited to see Liesl in her cute dance outfits. She had 3 of them! I can just see Maddy now, dancing away. She continues to say that she wants to dance too. We will see, maybe when she turns 3 she can start. I can't believe she will be 3 this year, yikes!
We had a nice day up there, Maddy and Winn were happy to spend time with their cousins and of course Aunt Mimi and Uncle Scott. We headed for home Monday afternoon, with Nana as well. It was nice to drive home with someone else in the car. It makes the time go by much faster! Kids were good on the way home as well. I know it will get harder to travel when the kids get older, but were getting some good practice...

New camera

2008-05-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

I just purchased my new digital camera. My old one, which was very capable of taking decent pictures, was just getting to be that...old. I got it 5 yrs ago from Jeff, and it has been a great camera, but it was too big to fit in my purse. And the the LCD on the back of my Nikon was 1 inch. I did too much research (I learned that from my friend Jenny ha ha), and finally purchased a Canon SD870. I absolutely love it. I can fit it in my purse or pocket and its soooo much faster than the old Nikon. Anyways, enough boredom about my camera.

We have a busy weekend planned. Tomorrow is a poker tournament at a fellow CCPL players home. We start at 1:00 in the afternoon, and play until a winner is declared. This could be very late, or very early. I hope the first. It's a pretty fun tourney, about 50+ people will be playing. A lot of the group is people that went to TM, so it's always fun to catch up.

My neighbor Kelcey and I started running last night. I have slowly been getting back into running, but it is just that...slow. I am up to 25 minutes now. When I run by myself, I will usually stop when I feel like it. When you run with someone, it's a little harder to stop. You can usually push yourself a little more and suck it up. So we both made the entire time. 25 min is not that long, but its a start!! It was nice to get to know our new neighbors. They are really nice, and they just had a baby girl 2 months after Winn was born. It will be fun to get together this summer!

Sunday, the kids and myself will be driving up to the Rapids to see cousin Liesl's recital. I am very excited to see it, she will be wonderful I am sure. We'll spend the night and then head back on Monday.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. We went to breakfast at the Cafe at the Plaza with my parents and the kids. We had a nice time, and the kids were so good! We do breakfast on the weekends, so we never have to worry about Maddy not eating that meal of the day.
I want to wish all my friends and family a happy mothers day. Being a mother or parent is not an easy job, but every second is worth it. Thank you to my mom and Jeff's mom for all you do for us.
Here's to all you moms!

Bye Bye NUK's

2008-05-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

Friday night was the launching of the Nuk's (paci's, whatever anyone call them). Maddy has used her nuk since she's been born. After about 9 months, she only used it for bedtime, and from then on was quite attached. I have always hated the nuks, but if it was only for bedtime, I learned to tolerate. We decided that she was getting to be a big girl and we have been talking it up with her for the past month. Big girls don't need nuks anymore. She wanted nothing to do with that... I was a bit worried that she wouldn't be able to get to sleep, wake up all night, and the list goes on. My mom gave the idea of launching her nuks into the air on balloons to fly away to the babies that needed them. Did I really think this was going to work??? NO!!!! But, that night, we decided we should give it a try. We have lots of overnights, mini-vacations, etc coming up...that we thought that if we didn't do this now, it might be a long time coming. We prepped her the remainder of the night, and she seemed to be ok with "giving" her nuks to the babies that needed them. We weren't really sure if she understood that they would be gone, but we're going to give it a try! She was very excited to let her balloons fly away, "They are flying so far away, all the way to the moon" she proclaims. That night, she went to bed and wondered when her nuks were coming back. We reminded her that she sent them to the babies that needed them, and she was happy. I think we underestimate a child's ability to roll with the punches. All the milestones I think she would have a hard time with, stopping the bottle, moving out of the crib, getting rid of the nuks, and so many more, she always seems to adapt so well. I was preparing myself for a week of crying and having a hard time sleeping. None of that happened and its been 3 nights and counting. Hooray!

Summer, here we come!

2008-05-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for the warm, summer days and picnics, swings, and Popsicles. Maddy can now actually finish a Popsicle in less than 30 minutes. Of course, there is no way I could help her finish it, she must do that "by herself." She becomes a complete mess, but that's what baths are for.

i love the Wii

2008-05-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Things were a little off during the CCPL stop at the Ehrhardt's. Mark, our tournament director, was not going to make it to the event. His car broke down in Waukesha, and said he would not be able to make it. So, we had to scramble a bit to figure out chips, blind structure, running the tourney, etc. We decided that we would leave it up to Farkas, who is no stranger to running a good tournament. Initially our plan was to both try to get the kids to bed, before the start of the game, which is supposed to be 7:00. Luckily, with Mark not being there, things got off to a slower start. We were able to get Winn to sleep at 7:00 and Maddy shortly after. I was a bit concerned about having 19 extra people in the house and hoping that the kids would stay sleeping. Well, by some sort of miracle, all worked out well. With the exception of my master plan (Jeff and I placing 1st and 2nd). Jeff was knocked out 11th and myself 6th, oh well. It was still a fun night of cards and company. If anyone is really interested in hands, etc, you can probably check out Jason's blog if interested. As of now, there is nothing posted yet.

A notable....Iggy took 3rd place, and Angie took 2nd. Followed by Adam M, who finally placed. He has been 2nd and 3rd a lot this season. There is a number of players from the CCPL that will be heading out to Vegas for the world series of poker. Hopefully they will come back with good stories and lots of $$$$!! Igg'y plan was to post and muck for an extended period of time, then come back to the tables and go all in on one hand. Good thing he decided against that.
There were a lot of suck outs on the river, as usual. As stated in the previous post, I don't really remember hands, expect that I lost with A 10s to J Ko, sucks. Jason and Angie were in hand that knocked Jason out. Angie was in (unbeknownst to Jason). Jason's turn to act, he raised all in, I folded. Jason thought myself and him were the only ones in the hand, so he turned his cards over, I believe he had a 2 8o. Angie was planning on calling with her A Ko. I am pretty sure that was it for Jason, I could be wrong, that is why I don't have a poker blog. It was a funny hand so I had to mention it.
Iggy also brought the Wii over to play, which for those that don't know, it is the newest Nintendo. It is so fun!!!! I am not really a fan of video games, but this is really interactive. There is boxing, bowling, tennis. You actually stand there and swing like you are playing tennis, same with bowling, etc. The sad thing is, as often as I work out, my triceps are still so sore from the boxing game. Yikes!!
Here is a pic of Jeff and I playing the boxing game.

Now I want the Wii!!!! Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!

Poker night!

2008-05-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here, by myself. What??? No kids??? Maddy is sleeping and Winn and Jeff took a ride over the the Iggy's to pick up a poker table. Thanks Jeff :) I am watching one of my favorite movies, Oceans Eleven, eating Doritos's and posting on the blog. What could be better? I can think of many things, but I'll take this.
We spent the evening yesterday after the kids went too bed, cleaning the house. More importantly, cleaning the playroom. For a long time now, we've had master plans to make the computer room into a playroom for all of Maddy's toys and whatnot. Now first of all, the computer room hasn't really been the computer room since we stepped up to the world of laptops. The other dinosaur has been sitting on the desk in the "computer room" for a very long time now non-functioning. We finally got our butts into gear and moved the computer and desk out and toys in. It looks pretty good for one night of hard work. The next mission impossible is the fish tank. Jeff has had a fish tank for 10 yrs. It has been functioning approx half the time. Sad to say, we have seen a lot of fish come and go. But Jeff is bound and determined to get it up and running once again. I will keep you posted on this mission...
We are hosting the Ehrhardt stop on the CCPL, that's the Cream City Poker League, for those who don't know of this exclusive club. This is the 2nd season of the CCPL. We generally play once each month, sometimes more often. There are usually between 15-20 regular players and we usually rotate homes each month. It's pretty fun, I am doing horrible this year. I am convinced that when I am pregnant I play poker much better. But I will settle for bad poker at this time, and for a long time after...2 is enough for me!
Maybe tonight will be a change of events. A fellow CCPL member has a blog as well, covering his way to the World Series of Poker. Jason is a great player, who remembers every hand he ever played, while I soon forget a few minutes after I lay my hand down. Oh well. Poker junkies, check out Jason's blog if interested. I'll catch everyone up on the standings of tonight's poker game. Hopefully the Ehrhardt's will be on top!!

My little chef...

2008-05-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight Maddy and I made homemade pizzas for dinner. She was so excited to "help make dinner!" First of all, she had to do everything herself, big surprise. She proceeded to "help" spread the sauce on, add some oregano, and dump plenty of cheese on top. Next came the turkey pepperoni. She ate one for every one she put on the pizza. Then a few tomatoes and some parm cheese. It was so funny, she could hardly contain herself she was so excited! The cooking in the over part is apparently no fun for a child, but she was so proud of herself when it was done. She proclaimed "I made such a special and cute pizza mom, let's share!" Now Maddy really is a pretty good sharer, most of the time. She enjoyed the pizza, and can't wait until the next time we can make more!

I love Spring!!

2008-04-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

I am not really the photographer, as you may tell in most of my pictures. But I had to take this picture of our magnolia tree in the front yard. I am pretty sure it's a magnolia, but not the typical magnolia tree. This tree blooms for about one month, at the most two. It smells so nice and it is the most beautiful thing! I love perennials, its so nice when flowers just magically appear every spring.

Blog tag

2008-04-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

I was blog tagged by a friend of mine, Jenny. Check it out! Also Smith Family. Blogging is still a bit new for me, but it was fun to check out other people sites! It's so fun!
Here it goes: Random Facts Tag. The rules: (Post these 3 rules on your blog.) Share 7facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I always imagined myself living in the desert on a ranch, not sure what I'd actually be doing on this ranch, but I would definitely be listening to country music all day long. Back to reality, I live in Wauwatosa...and I love it.

2. One my favorite things to do (when I didn't have kids) was to wake up in the morning on the weekend on a warm summer day and enjoy a cup of coffee out on the porch. Now I get the coffee, but where is the R & R????

3. I want to vacation in the Caribbean for a few months at time...

4. I would like to play in the World Series of Poker...and win??

5. I love TV! I am supposed to limit the amount of TV my kids (Maddy) watch, yet I DVR way too many programs. And I still manage to accomplish most things I set out to do.

6. Sometimes I look forward to the days when we can retire and travel and do anything we want to do. Yes, I know that my kids are 2 yrs old and 6 months old! I am cherishing all times we spend together, but you know what I mean!

7. I love to cook, but it seems I am short on time these days. Yes, I still cook, of course. But I would love to learn from a chef at some fancy schmancy culinary school.

I don't think I know anyone else that has a blog, with the exception of Jenny. So I cannot tag anyone back. But maybe I can inspire someone to start their own blog????

A low key weekend!!

2008-04-27T18:25:00.001-07:00

This weekend was a weekend with no plans! This is highly unusual for the Ehrhardt's, but we'll take it. It was a good thing, actually, because Maddy was sick friday through sunday. I feel so bad when the kids are sick. Maddy started a fever thursday and then it continued throughout the weekend. Followed by the runny nose, stuffy nose, yadda yadda yadda... We again went through a few boxes of tissues. Maddy feels the need for a tissue approximately every 5 minutes when she is sick. This can start to drive a person nuTTy, but its beTTer than the alternative, wiping her nose on the her sleeve (mr yuk). Maddy feels compelled to wake up in the night for a "temperature check, I have a fever", and " I need for more medicine!" What a strange child, she loves the medicine. I think we are at the tail end of the cold, thank goodness. I just hope that it doesn't get passed onto Winn, or us...
Maddy, despite her feeling under the weather, was extremely excited to get her first Brewer hat! She has been wearing it non-stop for the past few days. She takes it off at night (because I make her..horrible mom) and she places it on her dresser next to her. "It can watch me while I sleep"?????? The first thing she asked when she woke up from her nap today, was can she go the brewer game today? Atta girl, obviously a spin off of her mom and dad.
Jeff and I started to decorate Winn's room, finally! Jeff hung up shelves, and I noticed tonight that there is a Dwayne Wade and Brett Favre bobble head on the shelf above his bed. There was a reason we got all those bobble heads these past years. Maddy loves them, and now her and Winn will both have their own.
Let's hope for no snow tomorrow...

Yardwork time again!!

2008-04-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

This entire weekend was perfect!! Once again, the weather reports were way off. We were supposed to be getting 3+ inches of rain, and I don't even think I saw one single drop...well maybe one or two! I am glad that we didn't change any plans due to the weather. Saturday Jeff and Maddy went to the Zoo class to learn about birds. I usually go during the week, but this one was on a Saturday so Jeff got the opportunity to go. I think they had a fun time! Maddy got to see her friends Cooper and Kate too! The rest of the day was spent at the park on the swings and slides. I didn't bring my camera, but we had Winn in the swing too! He didn't seem scared, but had a funny look on his face. Maddy of course just wanted to go higher and higher.
Sunday we decided we should start on the yard work, so we spent a large part of the day cutting down old flowers, raking, cleaning out the garden, etc. We really made a good dent in the yard. Next we have to tackle the backyard, which shouldn't be too bad. Every year I make the decision to try to keep up with the weeding and gardening a little better. Once again, I say I will do that. We'll see what actually happens with that. It looks so nice in the yard when everything is cleaned up, maybe this will be the year!
Jeff and I are going to the Brewers game tonight! We're so excited, they have been playing great! I have my Brewers shirt on and Winn has his sweatshirt too. Maddy of course was wondering where hers is. We will be picking one up at the clubhouse tonight...she prefers a pink one??? We are working on the Brewers players, now she can name a few (JJ Pardy???? Ricky Weeks, the Prince and Ben Sheets. She cannot wait to go to a Brewer game!

Sad news :(

2008-04-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

I am saddened by some news of one of my former co-workers. Rick, an RN from the cath lab at WMH has been diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, which is an extremely rare form of cancer. It literally affects 4 in 1 million people. The not-so-funny thing about this is that he voluntarily decided to try a new piece of medical equipment (64 slice CT scan of the heart) during work. They were doing some education/teaching on the scanner and were looking for someone to "try it out". Lo and behold, one of the physicians and radiologist noticed some nodules in the lungs and that was the start of this roller coaster ride. He is now is Houston, one of the few centers in the states that treat this form of cancer, starting chemo treatments. Nothing like turing your world upsidedown. Leiomyosarcoma is a resistant cancer...not very responsive to chemotherapy or radiation. The best outcome occurs when it is taken out surgically. So that will be the next step if there is no response to the chemo. The really sad part of this is that Rick and his wife have a 5 year old daughter, Madeline. It breaks my heart to hear about this, but I do realize that God has a plan for everyone. Please include him and his family in your prayers, it would mean so much!

Haircut day!

2008-04-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Today Miss Madeline went on an adventure to get a haircut! She claims that she really needed one, which was very true. My child's hair grows like crazy, I think this was her 7th haircut??? I wonder when Winn will get his first one, right now he is sporting the mohawk style...I think that went out of style circa 1990, but it may be making a comeback. All Maddy could talk about was getting her snip, snip, sitting in the princess chair and the bow she will get when she's done. I think the highlight of the haircut is the 10 cent hair clip that she gets to pick out. Today she was helping Annette blow dry her hair. She is such a girl, and loves to look in the mirror, I wonder where she got that from (surely not me???)
Maddy was a bit under the weather today, I think she still has a little spring cold that has been lingering for the past week. Hopefully that will clear up pretty soon. Wednesday was such a gorgeous day, we must have taken 3 or 4 walks, not including our trip to the zoo. It is so great to live so close to the zoo. We have already been there 3 times and spring just started. Thank goodness for the zoo pass! Maddy really enjoyed the zoo last year, but this year was even better. Now that she knows most of the animals, I needed some more things to teach her. So now, I have to actually read the info signs by the animals so I can figure out what they eat, where they live, etc. I guess I could make up things, but it's fun to re-learn too!
This weekend, Maddy has another zoo class, she'll be learning about birds! Maybe Nana would like to take Maddy to her bird class, she loves birds!!!! Saturday night is our last night of couples bowling. Hooray! I love bowling, but Jeff always says that it ends at the perfect time. 33 or so weeks is plenty long enough. Off for the summer and them we'll start up again in August. I think the Ehrhardt's will be getting new bowling balls this summer. That should be interesting...

No more vacations for a while...

2008-04-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

We're back from the Dell's this past weekend! I feel as though we haven't been home much, always on the go. But I guess that is how we Ehrhardt's are. Sometimes I complain about how busy we are, but then when we don't have any plans, we are itching at throwing something together...who knows why??? This past weekend at the Wilderness was a lot of fun. We went with Tracy and Adam and the boys for Friday and Saturday night. Spent lots of time in the pool, which the kids loved! Cooper is a bit more adventurous then Maddy is in the water, but I think they both had a great time. Coop and Maddy were just the cutest things ever. They just played and played the entire time together, it was pretty cute. Tracy and I get together often, but usually it ends up where Cooper wants to play with me (I don't mind of course) and Maddy with Tracy. This weekend was a bit different, they seemed like they were 2 six year old chasing each other around. The kids all went to bed great both nights, so we got to have some R & R at nightime. Tracy and Adam beat Jeff and I in cribbage both nights (I blame Jeff for the loss....) I'll get some pictures on a bit later, still getting my pictures downloaded.
I am working on putting all of Maddy's clothes on e-bay. It really is a pain to take all the pictures, list them, and write about them all. A friend of mine from work gave me all of her daughters clothes for Maddy, they were born a year apart. So between what I have and she had, we are working together to get some money for them. Probably to buy more clothes, go figure.

Winn's Baptism

2008-04-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Winn's Baptism at St. Hedwig's. It was such a wonderful day, Winn looked so cute in his little white big boy outfit. He is such a sweetheart, and getting so big. Father Tim baptized him yesterday afternoon with all the family there. His godparents are Mary Jo and Scott. We are so happy and honored to have them as Winn's godparents! He is truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends.
We had a whirlwind of a weekend, getting ready for the baptism. That entails cleaning the house, preparing food for the party, and going crazy getting everything ready! The day turned out wonderful with the weather cooperating as well.
We're getting ready this week for our weekend at the Dell's with Tracy and Adam and the kids. We are staying at the Wilderness Friday and Saturday night, and are looking forward to having some fun with the kids!

Vacation's over...

2008-04-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted, but that's because we've been in Vegas. No time for blogging there! I cannot write about all we did when we were in Vegas because it would take way too long. But I'll try to touch on a few fun happenings that we had. We arrived in Friday morning at 9:30 vegas time, which is 2 hours earlier than WI. So right there, I knew we were in for a long day. We checked our bags and met up with the Iggy's for some lunch at the ESPN zone. We played a lot of blackjack that day and seemed to do alright at the tables. Then time for some basketball watching at Monte Carlo Brew Pub (note the large beer tap on our table). Would you believe we finished that at halftime of the WI game??? The game pretty much sucked, but we had a lot of fun none-the-less. I made reservations at VooDoo Steak for dinner Fri night, which is a swanky restaurant on the 55th floor of the Rio. (if anyone cares, that is where the World Series of Poker took place!!!) We went to dinner there later that night. It was such an awesome time. The view of the city and strip was so beautiful. Of course, I didn't bring my camera that night, so no pictures, but the view was priceless. The VooDoo Lounge was located outside the restaurant, on the 56th floor. I was a little nervous being outside on an extremely windy evening 56 floors up...nothing a few glasses of wine couldn't cure! It was fun to see some new sights in Vegas, it was worth the pricey, but delicious meal!!
We were up by 7am Saturday, ready for some sportbook betting, and more blackjack. We were up a little bit by the afternoon so we decided to take a little break and try our luck (or skill) on poker. Ig, Anne, Jeff and I entered a poker tournament at the good ol' Excalibur. There was about 45 people signed up for the 1:00pm tournament. I think we were all a bit nervous to play, we all are used to our Cream City Poker League where we know everyone we are playing with. Once we started, we realized it was just a glorified home game, and a lot of the players were really bad!!! I was first out, followed by Jeff and Iggy. Anne cashed for 5th or 6th place! The odds were pretty good for one of us to cash. I guess Jeff and I were feeling lucky, because we entered the same tournament the following day, and did much better. We both made the final table, and I placed 2nd! I was very excited to play in a tourney in Vegas and cash. Next time, we'll be on the lookout for more poker.
On Sunday night, Jeff and I saw a one of the Cirque du Soleil shows at TI. Mystère is classic Cirque du Soleil, combining the powerful athleticism, high-energy acrobatics and inspiring imagery that has become the company's hallmark. Jeff ended up being part of the show, not by choice, but it was pretty funny. We had front row seats, which was the place for lots of audience participation.
Monday we flew home, excited to see the kids! We missed them, but still had a great vacation. Maddy was so cute when we got to Papa and Nana's house. Lots of hugs and kisses. We received excellent reports on Maddy and Winn. Maddy had so much fun with her cousins and aunt mimi and uncle scott, and papa and nana of course! Back to reality. We really had a nice time, not much relaxing in Las Vegas, but we're not really the relaxing type.