Chihuly Venetian glass exhibit

We took a field trip to the Paine Art Museum this afternoon to see the Chihuly Venetian Glass exhibit. It was beautiful! Amazing really...

The kids did really awesome too! Although they had no barriers around anything, so they had representatives watching your every move.  When our kids even pointed at things we were on them like burrs to dog...  Still as I was walking with Wes out of the exhibit, this snooty woman says, "you know, there IS a children's exhibit downstairs." As if my children should not be allowed to see what they can't possibly appreciate as fine glass...  whatever.

I sure did look at her and say, "Oh yes we are actually going to explore that after, we see this exhibit."
We did check that out, and there really wasn't anything special based on Chihuly down in the "family friendly" exhibit.  The bigger kids really got into the video of him blowing glass.  That surprised

me. Ava and Wes, understandably were less interested in that. On the second floor there was a small display near the big round stained glass.  Everything there was enclosed, much more kid friendly.

A woman stopped me up there and said, "I am so glad you decided to bring your children.  It is wonderful to see hear them and see them enjoying this." She also complimented them on being well behaved.  Made me proud.  What can I say?

Tomatoes

There is something very beautiful about tomatoes or so I have always thought. I have also always enjoyed eating tomatoes... This year, I grew orange, yellow, and Roma varieties... Love them all!

Lunch!!!! :)

New outfits

When Livi first saw this outfit, she said it looked like "someone drew flowers all over a jail shirt"!

Jon (who picked it out) said it resembled "Hamburgler after murdering Ronald McDonald"!

While somewhat more modest, Liv's outfit is pretty interesting also. The shoulders are leather ruffles with a leopard printed headband and green tule skirt...

Brain

As a study tool, I created is study map... T looks at it and says, "Is that a brain?" Me: "Yes, and these are all the things that can happen to your brain because your brain is very important." Ava: "Mom, Brains are what Zombies eat!"

Thunder

Taylor and Liv were playing Mincraft and on the game it started to thunder. Wes, in the other room, heard the thunder and said, "It's cloudy!"  Thus is just one example of the higher functioning that leaks out every now and then. It gives me so much hope to realize that he knows so much more than I know he knows... If you know what I mean ;)

5K

My usual pace 48 min, my goal 45 min, my official time 43:10!

Feeing awesome today! (And tired!)

Just another day

Busy day, what else is new? I sat on a Q&A panel for new student orientation. Picked up huge pile of paperwork and paid school fees at Johnston ... Met the new principle ... Cleaned, cooked, ....

Now to prove that I have no skills in MarioCart!

Front teeth

On Saturday, before we went off to the Zoo, Taylor lost the first of his front teeth.  Livi lost hers about a month ago already, so we had been sort of waiting for it.  Its hard to see in this picture that I took at the zoo. Taylor was so excited about it, that he forgot to leave it under his pillow (sarcasm implied) and the tooth fairy had to find it on the counter and left his money anyway... one less trip for her to make another day.

Today, he lost the other one...  while eating a Klondyke Bar no less... Taylor tends to to loose them a while after Liv, but he tends to loose many at a time... sorry tooth fairy... guess you have to come back again anyway!

Fall Cleaning

I had a long list of items on my to-do list today.  Cleaning up all the toys in the house really wasn't on that list, but I just couldn't take it anymore.  So I got out my mad momma military style attitude and whipped the kids into shape.  Livi, Tay, and Ava, with a lot of coaxing, worked hard and cleaned up ALL the toys from the first floor of my house. They hauled them all downstairs and sorted them into their rightful bins.  While they worked on toys, I worked on sweeping... and scrubbing... I was pretty excited when we were all done... except that I then had to start working on my original list.

Yikes!

In the end I did accomplish most of what was on my list also, and I worked out int he garden a bit, and attended to a bunch of paperwork that had come in the mail too, all before heading to work!

Baby Shower

This afternoon I took the girls to a friend's baby shower.  My friend is expecting triplets, so I really wanted to give as much as I could.  I spent every last minute of free time this week sewing away with all the scraps I could find.  When I was out of time, I had two car seat covers, a large blanket, 10 burp cloths, and three pairs of hand sewn booties... pics to come...

I placed them all in a wagon that the kids no longer use, and I have to admit, it looked pretty awesome. 

I like bringing the girls to things like this because I find that kids (at least mine) don't have a lot of opportunities to be a part of gatherings where there are certain expectations.  So I find that showers usually provide a good opportunity for me to talk to them about being lady-like... you know, sit with your legs closed, use your manors-please, thank you, may I... Eating a little bit of everything and telling people how wonderful it is... all that etiquette type stuff.  I also like for them to see that giving is really important and that they shouldn't expect to be given things (though I have found they never leave empty handed...so then we work on how to be a gracious in accepting a gift...)

The girls made me very proud.  They were kind and shy, very polite, and felt special to be there.  The shower was fun. I was especially excited to see my friend as it seems our calendars rarely agree.  I can't wait to see her new little bundles with their booties. So excited for her!

Zoo

We enjoyed a busy day today. We met up with my mom at the N.E.W. Zoo in Suamaco.  The kids complained a little, but did seem to enjoy themselves also.  The baby monkey was popular, as was the giant turtle that wanted so badly to come right over that its shell squealed as it ran along the wooden barriers... The kids were not fans of "feeding" the giraffe... (and $1 for a branch of leaves... really?!)

Jon and I had our last appointment with our personal trainer. It was a very good experience, better for Jon I think than me... Our trainer Matt was very personable, easy to like... easy to hate in the burn of the moment... really made me sweat!

We ended the evening with a 3 mile jog with strides.  Since I jog at the pace that Jon walks... sort of... he walks with me whenever it works out.  Then he races me on the strides.  He runs normally at my fastest stride, so its not so much a "race".  Still, it motivates me some, and Jon at least finds it humorous.

Mushrooms!

Another photo dump!  Jon caught Livi during a pensive moment...  The rest of these are the many mushrooms we spotted on our hikes while up yonder.  We made a big deal out of these things in an effort to make hiking interesting for the kids.  Otherwise it just feels like work...

When there was something to discover or look for, they were pretty content, but when we were just tromping through bug infested "forests" they were "bored", "thirsty", and "tired". You know... kids... 

In July in Wisconsin, wild mushrooms are the most abundant thing to find along the forest floor.

We did see some flowers, but they were mostly flowering weeds.

Mushrooms, conversely, were tirelessly interesting.  The kids never got sick of finding mushrooms... even now :)

Nature photo Dump

More photos from vacation. There was no shortage of wild berries on the many trails we traveled.  Above are strawberries, below are blueberries and others.

Not so scerene

Last night around here was not like this at all.  Jon and I woke up at about 12:30 am to crazy wind gusts.  Jon ran about the house trying to close windows, but I was extremely worried about my pergolas.  Two years ago we lost our gazebo in just such a freak wind storm.  Unlike that one, this one was totally unexpected.  Since we do not have television, I grabbed my phone looking for the weather alerts.  There was a Severe Thunderstorm Watch, but that was all I could see. 

As I watched the wind outside my bedroom window, I commented to Jon that this was the craziest storm I had ever seen.  The lightning was constant and illuminated the wind as it literally whipped the trees around in our back yard.  I watched our twenty foot birch tree bend parallel to the ground.  The covers on the pergola were like sails, and eventually, as I watched, the ties snapped right off.  Within a very short time, the wind died off and the rain pelted the house.  By this time my phone apps showed a Severe Thunderstorm Warning with "gusty winds" and "hail" possible. 

I'm not really a fan of weather, so I listen for the sirens and I get anxious. I just know that I would be really angry with myself if my children were hurt because I was too ignorant to pay attention and seek shelter... So when things seemed like they were moving out, Jon and I laid back down to try to sleep.  This is when the thunder began.  Livi woke up frightened.  Like good parents, we told her it was nothing and sent her back to bed.

As it turns out, there were five tornadoes that touched the ground in our area this night... 41,000 lost power, many for more than two days, including the hospital I work for. Everywhere you go, the streets are lined with downed trees. Generator is the most popular word around here.  We probably saw the outer bands of the closest one which touched down about three miles from our home and is said to have been on the ground for ten minutes. It was like nothing that I have ever seen.

In other news, these photos were taken on our vacation... Fishing was a big hit again this year.  This photo, is all that was captured after Livi's very first cast.  She had a huge bite, and it was a big fish, but right after this was taken, it got off the hook.  We never actually saw the fish.  I can't wait for her to be patient enough to sit through and understand Grumpy Old Men... she will sympathize.

Taylor caught plenty of his own, but all the rest (except for the trout from the trout farm) were little Bluegills, sun fish, ect...

Crash Plan

Jon took off work today so that we could take the kids to Bay Beach. It was the only day we could do it.  So after we dropped Wes off at his school, we all piled into the van and headed out.

We were having a pretty good trip, no one was fighting, crying, fussing, or otherwise unhappy. Even the teenager was content.

Until we got off the highway in Green Bay, where our botched left turn left us stuck in the middle of the intersection with a Chrysler Sering stuck in our front driver-side.

Four hours later we did finally arrive at Bay Beach, battered and emotionally strained... at least I was. No one was hurt.  Thankfully...  Our vehicle was not drivable and was towed to a local yard.  The other vehicle was scuffed up, but drivable, which is saying a lot as it seemed like she may have been going fast.  I ended up walking with the children to a nearby McDonald's, where we waited for hours for Enterprise to find a vehicle large enough to transport all six of us. Then Jon lost his license and they wouldn't rent us a vehicle without it. I thought I was being smart by leaving mine at home... not so smart I guess.. Amy ended up having to drive mine up to us... not sure what they would have done if she could not have done so... left us with four children miles from home...?

I guess the good news is that we were all ok, and we did get to Bay Beach.  The children were remarkably patient through it all. They rode the bumper cars, the ponies, train, merry go round, ladybugs, boats, cars, scrambler, and Ferris wheel.  Evan and I rode the Zippin Pippin and he, the Scat... Then exhausted and hungry, we traveled home.

Oconto River trail Pix Dump

Wes has no fear... the docks along this trail were handicap friendly, but made me really nervous.

I liked how the flowers sort of covered the path, it was very serene, not sure I was able to capture it, but whatever :)

There wasn't much to look at in the river that day, but the kids were fascinated still the same. On the other side of this trail we found ourselves amid the edge of the damage caused by a tornado that came through when Taylor and Alivya were babies.  It was very interesting and telling.

Friendship Trail

This afternoon, after a very busy but productive morning, we all piled into the car and took a ride with Grandma k to the Friendship trail.  It is a pretty neat walk way that was created over an old railroad trestle. On the other side we watched several boats as they were lifted up in the locks.  Its been a long time since I have seen that.  Taylor, of course, thought this was totally awesome! 

Pictured above, Livi tells us how big all the fish were at the trout pond up north during our summer vacation in July. 

Game night

We just told Wes that the infamous "Uncle" JZ was expected today (j/k)!  This was taken while we were strawberry picking in June, but it does sort of sum up how excited my kids get when JZ graces us with his presence.  Tonight the kids played Mr Mouth with JZ, then we read from Goblet of Fire, and ate. It wouldn't be a visit with JZ if a gallon of ice cream and alcohol were not consumed while we played one of Jon's crazy geek boy games!  I'm not complaining... grasshoppers definitely make the geek games more tolerable!

This week we played two games, the first I really like... it was cooperative... go figure.  I can't remember the name of it, but basically we had to keep the island from flooding... we lost.

The second game, Puerto Rico, is one we have tried to play a few times, but this time we actually finished the game. It is ok, I don't get all excited about out smarting everyone, so I guess that limits its "fun-ness".

Busy days

August is a busy month around here.  Jon and I wanted to take the kids to Bay Beach this summer.  So I looked at our calender for some dates that might work... a few minutes after I text him "can you take off on Tuesday, its the only day all month we can go to Bay Beach?"

It just seems like we have so much yet to do this month before everyone goes back to school. As much as I am looking forward to knocking out this last semester.

Cinderella Traded in her Cheriot

Taylor? You would think... Actually this was created by Taylor's live-in arch nemesis, and devoted sided kick (in one), Ava. Ava adores Taylor. She and T are two peas in a pod. Unlike Livi, who is the ying to T's yang, Ava will happily follow Taylor's every whim... Good or bad. Unfortunately, Taylor is all too aware that this doesn't mean that she won't avidly impress her own opinion whenever she feels like it. She will take his ideas and "improve" upon them, which makes T crazy! He gets so upset by her because frankly, her will is stronger than his. Tay can often be found pouting around the house whining that "Ava this" or "Ava that". I have been known to suggest (and I stand by it) that Ava sincerely believes that she was in fact born as A&T's triplet not Wes' twin. 

For as much trouble as they find together, and as often as they fight with each other, they make me laugh at how similar they are!