Thank You!

Okay.. I just need to give a few shout outs of Thanks to a few people during these last many weeks....

I have been so so sick ( morning sickness except that it is not just the morning, all day LONG) It totally stinks.
So I need to thank a few people who have done numerous things for me...

Chris- My wonderful hubby of course. He has been cleaning, cooking because I can't stand the smell of the refrigerator and I can't stand to be in the kitchen without throwing up, doing laundry, emptying and reloading the dish washer, taking out the trash many times a day because of smells, taking care of the kids when he gets home from work and in the morning, getting the kids breakfast while I slowly wake up, etc. He has really stepped up and I love him more than ever.

Mom and Dad VV-- For cooking me and the kids dinner on those many nights that Chris has appointments and for letting me call you at any hours when I attempt to make lunch and or dinner a night that Chris will be late, so I can keep my mind on something else instead of the food (Like the phone call the other day when I attempted to brown ground beef, and Mom coming over to get my fresh veggies that I just bought and cut them up, wash, and peel them, and them give them back to me.)

To my wonderful friend Heidi who has been keeping me busy during the day times so I don't have to be home( yup-- I can't stand the smell of my house either--crazy huh)

To all of my other wonderful friends who have taken the kids for playdates, called to have them go with them for a while, and who have come by to chat keeping me busy and my mind off of being sick.

And my two wonderful kiddos---You poor things-- I know this is not how you wanted to spend your summer break--with mommy sick all the time. Lily is my refrigerator go getter when I do make food at home and gets the food out of the fridge for me including jelly for sandwiches, milk, butter, bagels, ketchup, etc and lays it all out on the counter for me. However look on the positive side-- you get to eat out lots since I can't cook much without getting sick :) McDonald's 1.00 hamburgers are our friends.

Ugghhh... let's just hope I am in the home stretch with being sick and I start to feel better soon. They say 12 weeks and it should be good but I was sick with Lily for 5 months and right now, I am over the 12 week mark.

I just keep thinking that this will be all worth it in the end :)

Five?!?!

So if you have checked out the video on the following post, you would know by now that we are expecting another baby! Wahoo! This is definitely a surprise baby and now that we have gotten used to the idea, we are very excited and can't wait. This is going to be a long period of time for the kids to wait however. We tried not to tell the right away because we knew that everyday would be filled with questions of when and "is the baby coming today" and it worked for a while but with me being so so sick we had to tell the kids because they were so worried. As of right now, we are due January 14th.

Five?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adMU03l8XHU

Check out this Video! It is pretty good :-)

Lily's Friends Birthday Party

Lily had a friends Birthday party this year. We invited 16 of her closest friends ( not all 16 showed up) and we took them to the zoo for a picnic and a party. Lily and her friends had a wonderful time. We had great weather and Mom and Dad were awesome and helped Chris and I out at the zoo. If it weren't for them, we would have had a hard time taking the kids to the zoo... Special thanks to them! Pictures to follow......

4th of July

Our 4th of July weekend was wonderful. We had a lot of things going on to keep us busy. We went to fireworks, we went to Mom and Dad's house, we took the kids to see Cars 2, and we went to a local parade. What a wonderful weekend it was, weather wise, to be out and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Surfing Lily!

At the Kalahari, they have free surf lessons. Lily and Chris jumped on that opportunity and had a blast!

 

 

 

 

Lily's 6th Birthday Celebration at the Kalahari

Chris had a work event at the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells that was for families. This happened to fall on Lily's Birthday weekend. How convenient for us!! So Lily spent her Birthday at the Kalahari having fun and taking in all of the water parks and the indoor theme park. We had a blast and she thought it was the coolest thing. Edward Jones had the advisors attend meetings in the mornings for a couple of hours and then gave them the whole afternoon to spend with their family. They had babysitters on site to watch the kids a few different times so the mom's could get together and then so the parents could enjoy the dinner banquet. It was such a wonderful time and this was one of our little vacations for the summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lily's Birthday "Cake"

 

 

 

 

Lily's Last Day of School

Here is Lily on her very last day of Kindergarten. Can't believe I have an almost 1st grader!

 

 

Girl Scout Celebration

We took our Girl Scout Troop to Pump it up inflatable party zone for the end of the year party. The girls had a blast. They all earned their girl scout "petals" and enjoyed spending time with each other. All 13 girls plus their parents and siblings came. We ate pizza and enjoyed a wonderful evening.

 

 

 

Three Cousins!

Here is a picture of Gavin, Lily, and Nolan swinging at Great Great Grandma's place. We took a trip to see her and the kids found the swing.

 

Our Little Tap Star

Lily did a great job at her dance performance. She was a super star. We had the whole family come out to watch her which was so wonderful.

 

 

 

Nina Fun Run

Lily participated in the NINA Fun run the day of her graduation. Nina stands for : Neighbors In Need of Assistance. She raised money for this cause and then did the walk. The school had such a great turn out and kudos to all of the kids the participated and worked hard to raise money for a good cause. We are so proud of Lily!

 

 

Lily's Kindergarten Graduation Reception

Lily's Kindergarten Graduation Reception

 

Lily and her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Landas.

 

The Three Muskateers

 

Lily so happy after her ceremony

My Little Graduate!

I can't believe Lily has "Graduated" Kindergarten. She is growing up way too fast. Her class had a ceremony and received diplomas. Lily even had a special speaking part in the ceremony which was pretty special. They sang songs and waved goodbye to Kindergarten. It makes me so sad that time is flying by way too fast.

 

 

 

 

Papa's amusement ride!

We stopped by Mom and Dad's house on the way home from camping. Papa entertained the kids for a long time with the tractor and trailer.

 

 

Our First Family Camping Trip!

Over Memorial Day Weekend we took our first camping trip as a family. The kids are finally old enough to rough it camping and in the outdoors. We took them to Yellowstone Lake State Park in Southwestern Wisconsin. It was absolutely a beautiful park. The water was so clean and the best part was that there were no bugs. No mosquitoes, bees, etc. We did have cold and rainy weather for part of the time. It was definitely a TRUE camping experience. The tent leaked water in so all of our stuff got wet for a few days. We cooked all of our meals over the fire and the bathrooms were quite a hike away. The kids learned to use the woods as a bathroom :) I heard the birds early in the morning the first morning at 3am and knew that I couldn't function on a couple hours of sleep for the rest of the weekend so I slept in the car every other night. It was so much fun to spend time like this as a family but I am definitely not a camper and next time we go, we will make sure there is no rain in the forecast and there is plenty of room in the SUV for me to sleep.