Avery's End-of-the-Year Show

I figure, what better time to post about Avery's end-of-the-year Pre-K show than her first day of Kindergarten the following year??  Sorry.  Clearly my posts have been somewhat sporadic lately.  Stay tuned for another post updating you on the rest of our summer adventures soon. 

Avery's end of the year show was during her last week of Pre-K in June.  It was adorable. 

All three Pre-K classes combined to sing a bunch of songs on stage and then there was a slide show of the year.  As you can imagine, Avery was leading the pack and not only did she get to stand on the stage, but she also used this location to her advantage in order to tell all of her friends either a) what they should be doing at any given time or b) to point out to them where their parents were in the crowd (as you see here with her friend Sophie).  It was comical. 

I have a video of her singing "This Little Light of Mine," "He's Got the Whole World in his Hands" (or whatever it's called) and "Grand Ol' Flag"  but I can't get them uploaded for some reason.  As soon as I figure it out, I'll put them up.  They are pretty cute. 


Afterwards, we were supposed to have a picnic lunch with the kids outside, but unfortunately, it was cold and rainy that day. So, we had a picnic indoors, which worked perfectly fine. 

The parents decided it would be fun to give her teacher a photo book with a page for each child.  We asked each child 1)What his/her favorite thing was about Pre-K, 2) What they were going to do this summer and 3) What they thought their teacher was going to do this summer.  For whatever reason, I volunteered to do the book and because it took a significant amount of time and because I think that it turned out well, I'm including a link.  :) 

http://www.shutterfly.com/custompath/viewEdit.sfly?fid=b0e9a253aa0d4e3c9a16dcf07a6807f9

Overall, it was a very nice way to end the year. Josh and I couldn't be more proud of Avery and how well she did during her Pre-K year. By the end of the year, she could speak some french, some Spanish, could write using both capital and lower case letters, do simple math, she remembered and could recite every prayer she learned and she began to read beyond the normal level for Pre-K.    

And, Al?  Well, Al walked around with a bucket on his head during the picnic.  But, don't worry - I'm sure (well, pretty sure) we'll be saying the same things about him in 2 years. 

Chi-Town!

So, as a CPA, I need to earn 40 CPE (Continuing Professional Education) hours per year in order to maintain my license.  Because of this, my company has agreed to let me attend 2 conferences per year (at the Company's expense because, damn!  These puppies are expensive).  In the past, I have gone to NYC for both conferences because, A) it is close and B) it gave me an opportunity to meet up with Christine and Colleen.  So, this year - I did one conference in NYC and hung out with Colleen (and missed Christine, as she is now in AMS :( ) but then had the brilliant idea of looking into a conference that is closer to WI with the hopes of meeting up with the HS girls and my parents.  As it turns out, there was a conference in Chicago!  AND - it was even less expensive for me to fly out there than it was for me to take the train to NYC, so a win/win overall.

Not only was it a win/win from a cost perspective - it was also a win/win from a social perspective (did you really think that I would plan a trip that wasn't?).  Anne lives in a suburb of Chicago, so we made plans for me to fly into Chicago (really freaking early - like, ARRIVED at 7:30 AM early) on Saturday morning and then Melissa and Sara (unfortunately, Becky was in the Dells and couldn't join them :() drove from MKE that morning to meet us at Anne's house.  It was great because I had never seen Anne's house and had never really gotten a chance to hang out with her kids.  Granted, I was only there for about an hour, but it was nice seeing a little bit of how they live.  However, as adorable as her kids are, Anne (who stays at home with all three - bless her soul!) was more than ready for a day and night away and that is exactly what we did!

First, we stopped off at the fire station to see Anne's brother who we all hadn't seen in years and who has really grown up to be quite the hot successful paramedic/fire fighter! 

Then, we were on our way to the big city! 


We managed to find a restaurant with outdoor seating AND wine (aka, my idea of heaven), so we ate there and just enjoyed catching up with no kids pulling at us or needing to go to the bathroom or having a meltdown - it was rather enjoyable, if I do say so myself. 

The rest of the day, we just walked around and did the tourist thing.

Then....that night.  Oh goodness.  Let's just say that the WI Mama's know how to take advantage of kid-free time!  We had a great night.  Started out with tapas at a Spanish restaurant and ended with lots of dancing and random conversations with a group of kids smoking something they shouldn't have on the streets of Chicago that night (er....the next morning, technically). 

The only downside to the entire time?  Well, besides the fact that my hair was clearly a bit out of control that night (can someone please tell me this next time??? )  The morning after - as it became VERY clear to all of us that it had been way too long since a night TRULY out has happened.  But, after the girls left that morning (and after a nice greasy breakfast)?  Oh, I rallied my friends.  I rallied...

I took about an hour long walk along the Chicago River and then down to Navy Pier

 and got back to the hotel just in time to get ready for....Mom and Dad's arrival!  Yep!  They drove down from the house to MKE and got on the train to Chicago from there.  Once they arrived, we went back and repeated the walk that I had just done (trust me - after the amount that I ate and drank the day before?  My butt and thighs were thanking me for the repeated exercise) and ended up at Navy Pier where we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting next to the lake, enjoying a beer (told you I rallied!) and watching the ridiculously expensive boats go by.  It was prefect.  That night, we found a great little Italian restaurant near our hotel and had dinner there.  And, the next day?  Well, I actually did have to attend the conference that was the reason this trip was funded.  So, I did that while Mom and Dad did the touristy thing around the city and then we all met up for dinner again that night. 

Overall, a great trip! It worked out perfectly being able to see both family and friends and will definitely be something I hope to repeat in the future.  All that said, I really did miss Josh and the kids and was thrilled to return home to them...and was even more thrilled when on Wednesday morning when Alex woke up and called for Daddy?  I got to surprise him by going in there myself and entered the room to a HUGE smile and hug accompanied by "I love you SOOOO much!"  Girls and Mom and Dad?  Don't get me wrong - I had a great time.  But, that right there may have been the highlight of the trip...

The "B" Word

Well, it happened. 

Avery said the "B" word.

Last night, as I was laying with her at bed time, she informed me that Garrett is her BOYFRIEND.  Uh..I'm sorry, what????  So, then she clarified:

Avery - "Well, Mom.   I mean, he isn't REALLY my BOYFRIEND.  He is a boy and he is my friend, so he is my boyfriend!" 

Me (feeling relieved at this point) - "Oh, ok.  That makes sense." 

Avery - "And, he's also definitely the cutest boy in the class."

That sense of relief?  Right out the window...

Happy Birthday, ARH, US, WJD, and AJD!

WARNING - LONGEST POST TO DATE.  BUT, I WARNED YOU!

Ah yes - it was that time of year again - time for our annual trip out to WI to celebrate all of the birthdays!  I remember feeling thoroughly sad, disappointed and jealous when we had to leave after only a week and everyone else got to stay there for 2 whole weeks.  So, this time, we extended the trip and made it 10 days, which made it that much better of a vacation. 

The first birthday celebrated with the big ol' Al Man's.  He officially turned 3 on July 2nd.  We were lucky enough to have Aunt Nancy and Hilary come to visit and to help celebrate that day with Hilary's new baby - Finn.  As you can see, he is an adorable baby and was also incredibly good! 

 And, his first visit to Uncle Lex's house wouldn't be complete without a photo op inside the croc's mouth.  Unfortunately, as it turns out, a crocodile's teeth are pretty flippin sharp, so we couldn't get him in there as much as we wanted to, but it still made for a good picture. 

Later that morning, Auntie Sara also came to help celebrate!  Poor Sara always seems to come to my parent's when there are one million things going on, but as always, she just fits right in and joins in the fun.  We had a great day of hanging out with family, playing in the pools, eating one of Alex's (and all of ours) favorite dinners - ribs!, making his cake (yes, another ball - what can I say - it's what the kid likes these days!), eating the cake (while Alex ate doritos) and then opening presents.    I think that he would agree that he had a great 3rd birthday!

The next birthday was our good friend Uncle Sam.  So, of course, we all had to put on our red, white and blue to honor him.  Sorry about the blurry picture and the lack of Charlotte - it's hard to get a good picture of all 4 kids!

 In keeping with tradition, we all went to the Green Lake 4th of July Parade.  The only difference this year was that it was ONE HUNDRED AND TWO DEGREES!!!!!!!!!  For those of my friends in TX, I realize that this is normal.  But, in WI?  It is most definitely NOT normal.  Needless to say, we basically bathed the kids in sunscreen and filled their little bodies with as much water as we could and headed down.  We were wondering if there would be a petting zoo again given the heat and were actually kind of shocked when we saw that there was!

Although, at one point, someone commented that they witnessed the poor kangaroo basically just collapse right in front of them.  Somehow, I'm thinking that probably wasn't a good thing. Although, surely it gets this hot in Australia, right???  Anyway - the parade as always didn't disappoint.  The kids loved getting the candy and Alex especially LOVED the trucks, etc. that came through.  I was shocked.  The Memorial Day parade in LC?  Alex spent the entire parade like this (yes, his back was towards the parade the entire time).

The parade in Green Lake?  He was dancing, singing, and screaming with delight. 

And, the parade wouldn't have been complete without the one foreign exchange student in town - this year it was a kid from Japan who couldn't have been happier to be wearing this insanely hot (and somewhat bizarre?) outfit and waving to the crowd. 

After the parade, we once again went to the lake front and enjoyed beer, corn on the cob, fried cheese curds, brats, hot dogs and the band.  Given that the kids were older this year and were enjoying the music and food as much as we were, we stayed much longer than we did last year and had a blast just being outside with good music and good company. 

In between Uncle Sam's and William's birthdays, I went down to Delafield to spend some time with the HS girls (thank you to everyone for watching my kids for me!).  We had a great time catching up and meeting little miss Abby - Anne's third baby.  I know I've said it before, but it really is amazing how we don't see each other but more than once a year and yet it is always like we just saw each other yesterday.  It was a great night!

Uncle William's birthday was spent at the beach -  one of our many days that we spent there.  Again, now the kids are older, they all loved it.  The water was a great temperature (one of the pluses of 100 degree days and no rain) and it was shallow enough that all of them could walk out in it for quite a ways.  Another highlight of the lake was the dock that they all jumped off of.  Granted, I, being the catcher at the dock, got to stand in the mucky sand by the dock and catch all of them, but whatever.  It was fine and I still have both of my legs, so I guess the bacteria couldn't have been all that bad.

Uncle William got the St. Andrew's Flag this year as his cake.  His was a bit more fancy with chocolate ganache (sp???) and everything - very delicious.  Well done, Mom!

Then came Miss Annabel's pretty, pretty princess day.  And, boy did she live it up!  She received this adorable Snow White Costume from Will's mom and didn't want to take it off.  She wore that thing all day - other than when we were in the boat.  We did manage to get her into a bathing suit for that.

As you can see, Annabel got the (slightly impaired) princess cake. Unknown to me, Alex had apparently thought that it was a true barbie and had dismembered the poor thing before we even left RI (the arm was found on our bedroom floor).  But, whatever.  We figured if nothing else, it was a good "not everyone is the same" lesson to be learned by all of the children.  And, not only do some people not have all of their limbs, but apparently, they wear their shirts a bit crooked as well.  It's ok - this was one of Lexi's first frosting attempts.  We have to cut her a bit of slack.  I have leaning purse cakes and Lexi has snowwhite with a crooked top and one arm...

And, although Charlotte didn't have a birthday, she was not forgotten about.  It was pretty hard not to forget about her, as there was pretty much ALWAYS food around (for those of you who know my family, this isn't a lie) and wherever there is food?  There is Charlotte. That little bugger would eat all day if you let her.  AND, she spots it from across the house!  Clearly she has some of her mama's side in her. 

And, I'm just including this picture because I think that it is hilarious.  Lexi and Will bought her this life jacket and put it on her in the house to get her used to it.  She wobbled around in that thing for a good hour - bumping into walls and everything.  Pretty comical. 

The rest of the week was spent doing fun things like going on the boat and bobbing around the lake...

And, of course, peeing off of the boat.  Hey - you gotta do what you gotta do when you have 2 newly potty trained kids who need to go pee.

Playing in the pool and on the slip and slide...

Playing with nature.  We had a butterfly...

A dragonfly...

Frogs...

And, even a bat!  As you can see, we didn't attempt to hold that one - we just left him in the umbrella until he flew away..

Making sit-upons.  Do you remember those?  Grandma was very crafty and had newspaper, plastic wrap and yarn all ready for the kids.  They each decorated their own and brought them to the 4th of July parade to sit-upon!  :)

And, then, just had a great time being goofy and hanging out with our family...

Once again, another perfect trip to WI!  Thanks, Opa and Grandma!