Father/Daughter dance '08

Our church does a Father / Daughter dance once a year. This year's theme was the renosance so Acacia got to go as Lady Acacia. A grand time was had by all.

Click the link to see a slide show of the event.

Slide show of Father/daughter dance

Acacia speaks at church

This is Acacia speaking out at church. She did GREAT!!!! If you can't quite make out what she is saying it is this ... "For people who are angry or who's hearts are saddened, may they feel God's spirit and love. We pray to the Lord." I think you can make out the church reply ... She is not the first one speaking - she's second. Also - you may have to scroll down and click the stop button on all the other videos. For some reason they all auto start and the roller skating one seems to be the loudest.

Mary Kay make over

I won a free makeover for myself and 5 friends. Given all the make up I wear I decided to share it w/those that would really enjoy it. I am not sure if the Mary Kay lady really wanted to spend the evening doing makeovers on 7 year olds, but it was my free make over!!

So Peaceful

Just a funny photo. You can't tell who's arm is who's ...

Snowy Winter '08

Our snowy winter. This year we broke record snow fall. The old record was 78 inches. At this point we have received over 100. I don't really know the final number as the snow continues to come. We are still getting 1-4 inches weekly now. I believe we also broke a record low temp but I don't remember. I think my brain is frozen. It's really been amazing seeing what this much snow does to a city and how the city deals with the piles of it as it mounts.

Click the link to see a slide show of just our street over the winter.

Slide show of snowy winter

No Front Teeth!

All I want for Christmas ....

Crazy mismatch day!

Acacia's school celebrated Catholic Schools week with something silly each day. Crazy mismatch clothes day was one of our favorites! I think if a prize was given for being mismatched, Acacia would have won - hands down! I even did a braid and a pony. The only thing we did match were the shoes - meaning both shoes matched - she did not wear two different shoes. But, given the shoes - we did not think that was necessary!

The Shining Star

One week out of the school year, each one of Acacia's classmates is the shining star. They get to decorate a door in the classroom with pictures and facts about themselves. They get to leave this up for a week. During the week they get to share all about themselves, bring in things to show and share treats. What is a school event without treats?? This past week was Acacia's turn and she was very proud of her work.

Madtown Twisters anyone?

The kids will never not want to go to Madtown Twisters and yesterday was no exception. Acacia's friend Rachel and her brother Braden were there and so was Chris' friend Alex and his little sister Kate. Braden is just a bit younger then Chris but not to be showed up wanted to climb up the rope ladder to the very top - only to get a bit ... scared and mom had to maneuver herself up there to help get him down. The girls ran all over at a rate I could not keep up with to take any photos but they were there! Winter break officially ends Monday the 7th. Back to ice hockey, horse back riding and swimming ... and a bit of homework! We are all set for another great year of blogging!!

The Melting Pot!

MMMMMMMM! Our grand finally was a night out at the Melting Pot. We were there for THREE hours - with the kids! I think everyone had a great meal and Acacia did her part in cleaning both of the chocolate pots!

Mini Golf with Nono

Another indoor activity we took part in during winter break - mini golf. This course is very interactive and not really designed to help you improve your putting. The two glow in dark holes were especially challenging!

Roller Skating '08

Today was roller skating day! It seems my kids never cease to amaze me. They both took to the skates and had a great time. This is really Chris' first time on roller skates and he decided he was ready to do the limbo!! After three hours of this though - Acacia had had about enough and was ready to go home.

Click the link to see a slide show of more photos ...

Slide show of Roller Skating

Ringing in the New Year '08

This year really just flew by. We ended it in a somewhat traditional way by taking the kids to the Monona Terrace for a night filled with jugglers, live music, huge blow up jumpers, slides and putt putt golf. It would not be complete if we did not also see the Rick Wilcox amazing magic show. And, to follow in tradition - Dad (Nono) got to go up on stage and "help"! Dad sacrificed his watch for the illusion! It's just an amazing show!


















After the kids fun was over we left the kids with Emme and Nono and we actually went to a party! It was a lot of fun and the champagne was unexpectedly good! I am paying the price for that today ... We had an amazing ham dinner compliments of Emme and pretty much vegged out on the couch! All is good in 2008!

First ski trip of the season!

We took our first ski trip of the season and given the amount of snow we have already and how amazing Chris did I think we will be able to do a few more trips this season! Chris had a lesson and now skies down the hill saying "... french fries ... pizza ..." What this means is - make your skies look like french fries when you want to go fast and make them look like a slice of pizza when you want to slow down. It will not be long before we can all ski together!!


Click the link to see more skiing photos.

Slide show of Skiing

Riding bare back!

Acacia continues to show great improvements with the horse back riding. Recently she was allowed to ride bare back and now she is even trotting bare back. She is gaining more and more confidence and still just loves it.





Click the link to see a slideshow of more photos ...

Slide show of Riding Bareback