Undie Stick

I have been meaning to blog about this for over a year but haven't gotten around to taking the picture until now.  For some reason Hannah put this stick in her undie drawer and insists on the undie stick picking out which pair of undies she is going to wear for the day.

She puts the stick in the drawer, swirls it around and whichever pair she pulls out is the winner!

Happy Birthday to my sister, Kari!

Hope your 40's are great!

Lemonade!

"Lemonade for sale!"

The girls have graduated to a lemonade stand.  

I was sent home with cards and cash for them from Loriann- she wanted to purchase their daily special, this could be a tricky transport.

They were so excited to have a customer even if that customer wasn't actually there in front of them so the glasses got poured and I was the lucky one that got to drink the lemonade.

Then Hannah emptied out a water bottle and poured in Loriann's lemonade that I was instructed to deliver in the morning.

Our neighbor, Kris, came today and enjoyed a glass of lemonade as well.

"Enjoy yourself"

The girls had set up another sale stand tonight.

I pulled into the driveway, got out of the car and started to make my way to them.

I noticed this yellow marking on the driveway.

"Hey, what's this mean?"

Hailey responded "That is our sale sign.  It says we have ice cold water."

Me:  "Oh, very nice."

Hannah:  "Would you like some?"

Me:  "Of course"

Hannah:  "Here you are.  Enjoy yourself."

It started to sprinkle a few minutes later and like mini-professionals they sprung into action.

Hannah wheeled their counter into the garage while Hailey carried the cups.  Hannah came back for the chair and Hailey drew this on the ground.

Me:  "What's this?"

Hailey: "That's the sign that we moved into the garage so they know we are here because it's raining."

Seeds for Sale!

Got home from work and pulled into the driveway only to be greeted by the two cutest saleskids I have ever seen!  "Seeds for sale!"  they yelled as I pulled in.
At the time Hannah was on her scooter scooting around the driveway and Hailey was manning the station- sitting on her lawn chair with her legs crossed, sitting up and waving as I drove by.

Of course I had to get out a few dollars and go check this out.
I was presented with three choices- regular seeds (sunflower), pickle seeds (flavored sunflower seeds), and mixed (regular and pickle). I am not a fan of the pickle flavored ones so I chose the regular.  I was given and handful and I was on my way.

Throughout the evening they tried to push their product to any passer-by they could see.
Cars that drove by, kids on bikes, adults walking their dogs, etc.  Thankfully no one really understood what was going on.  The kids would have LOVED it but I'm not gonna lie I am not sure this 'Seed Stand' was ready for primetime. 

Keeping up with tradition

Adam (5), Justin (8), Hailey (3), Hannah (5), Courtney (9)

We typically spend Memorial Day weekend at the lake.

It's the weekend that we get the cabin open, which really just means turn the water on....

Since we have had kids, I can't remember a Memorial Day without going to grandma and grandpa's.

I like this tradition.  It's awesome to have enough time to be at the lake but still have a day at home to spend time with Brian's family too.  Any weekend that we can see both sets of relatives is a great weekend!

Can't get enough of any of these people.

The kids were so cute playing outside tonight.

They were playing some type of game they made up called 'Toilet tag'.  Hannah has tried to explain it to me but I am not really sure I get it.  Something to do with a ball and touching the kids with a ball.

You could go to the 'Tee' if you needed to take a break- this was a safe place where you couldn't get tagged.  They were outside most of the night and ended up playing with the neighbor girls for a little bit.

A walk down Maple Knoll

Tom came in and asked Hannah to make a sign for the old pontoon, since they bought a new one this year, it's finally time to part with the old one.

She did a pretty god job if you ask me ;-)

Even included a lake, sun and a boat on the lake in the top right corner.

This afternoon we decided to take a walk.  

At first it was just going to be a few of us but it ended up being all of us.  

As we were walking I asked my mom if we could get to the road that runs next to the lake.  The one that we used to drive in on when we were younger, before they put in the paved road and closed this way off.

Yes- she knew right where to go and we were off!

Joe got himself a walking stick and it wasn't long before Hannah and Hailey had to get in on that fun.

 As we got to the end of the first road we came to the turn.

The last time I passed by this corner there was a small trailer on the property.  I thought I remember the guy being in jail for robbery or something so his lawn was always overgrown and I remember when we would drive by I would always be curious as to how someone could actually live there.  Not just in that little trailer on this piece of land but on that street in Pine City.  Don't get me wrong, I love this place but it would be strange to actually live here.   It's a perfect cabin 'neighborhood' but in reality there are a lot of people that call this area home.  It's weird to me.  That these kids around here grow up on these dirt roads and they live in an area that must be like a ghost town during the week but then filled with cabin goers each weekend.

I had to get a picture of this corner.

When we used to come here when we were little we would turn off the main road and hit the gravel.

Our cabin is about a mile and a half off the main road but during this 7,920 feet drive it felt like forever.

We would always be so excited to get there and once we could see the lake we knew we were so close.

Many times the lake water would be so high that the road would have water on it so dad would have to drive the old black Chevy Caprice wagon on the edge of the road to avoid the water.

Once we would hit this curve there was a sense of excitement but it was always a little sad too.

Our cabin is quite a distance from the water and the lot is full of trees so it's not so easy to see the lake sometimes.  It was always fun being this close to the water.  It was also the 'big turn'.  When we would bring our friends up they would always ask where we were going once we made that turn.  The road was leading away from the lake and we would often 'mess' with them by driving into the driveway of a run-down cabin and saying we were there.

Pine City Street Sign

The girls found a ride back.

As we were walking down the road a lady appeared from the grass.  It was obvious that she was approaching us and I'm not gonna lie for a minute I thought she was going to try to get some man-help.

Instead she asked if we wanted a picture taken.

How nice, right?!  Sure do love these peeps!

Mom, Jennie, Hannah, Bobby, Kristin, me, Brian, Hailey, Tom, Kim, and Joe

Now that's what I'm talking about

The deck at the cabin has been dangerous for the past few years and this year it's in the plans to get fixed.

It started with the deck just tilting but that quickly turned into a full out slant.

We started to get squishy boards and as of now the deck is pretty much a 'keep-the-kids-off-but-walk-on-it-at-your-own-risk' platform.

It's sad to see how the cabin has been deteriorating over the years and exhausting to see just how much work needs to be done up there.  However, at the end of the day, this is our cabin.  A place we have been enjoying since I can remember and I want my kids to have those memories too.

We were all sitting around in the living room today and Hailey had gone outside.

All of a sudden we heard someone yelling from the doorway and look over to see and hear this "Hey!  Is Bobby in there?"

When it was time for bed Hannah and I layed down together- typically we sleep on the air mattress and Brian and Hailey sleep in the bed.  The bed is very floppy so to have two adults in it is less than ideal.  Everyone falls to the middle and you spend most of the night fighting your way to the edge of the mattress with no luck.

I leaned over to give Hannah a kiss goodnight- Hailey was already tucked in.

She snuggled up to me, I rubbed her back a few times, she closed her eyes and said "Now that's what I;m talking about!"

Opening the cabin

It's finally time!

We have ALL been waiting for what feels like forever to finally open the cabin.

Hannah was super excited to open the cabin but just as excited to open Pizza Pub.

As we all arrived at the pub one car at a time Hannah couldn't stop talking about how excited she was.

"I can't even remember what the cabin looks like.  I can't even remember what it smells like."

We saw Jennie drive by so the girls went running out to the sidewalk to wait for her.

As they were waiting Hailey turned around and gave Brian and I the cutest little smile and wave followed by an adorable booty shake!

Ahhh...something about being here tonight just feels right.

Here's to the start of another great summer!

DSLR shoe store

You may be wondering what in the world is going on around here?!

Well when I asked that same question I was told that this is a shoe store.

You may have been to DSW but have you ever been to DSLR?

(Designer Shoe Living Room)

Ba Bye

See ya later Epic Campus

See ya later weird food that always seems to taste like cinnamon

See ya later windy road that leads to Voyager Hall

See ya later 'art'

Hannah had her last night of T-ball tonight.  It rained so they only played an inning but Grandma Judy and Grandpa Denny were there to cheer her on.  At the end of the game they had a little team party with cookies and then each kid got a medal.  Two week break and then we start back up for the summer!

Wish you both were here

 As I've mentioned before, there is one thing that you can guarantee when you go to Verona for training- there will be a lot of breaks.  A lot.  They state that adults can typically only pay attention and soak in what they have learned for about an hour at a time so you can pretty much bet that once every 60-90 minutes there is a break in your future.

Today as Molly and I were enjoying the first of the sun we've seen since September of 2012 we missed our other EHR friends that have typically joined us on our journey to the DisneyWorld of the Midwest.

The campus looks a little different in the spring.  One thing we noticed right away were these swings outside on one of the decks.  We were able to enjoy an afternoon break out here and Molly and I both agreed that everyone should have one or two of these.

5th and final

This week I am off to Madison again for a few days.  As far as I know this is my 5th and final trip to Verona for Epic training.  This time the training is for MyChart, the onilne patient portal.

Just like the other classes we have taken there I was left disappointed.

The class moves too slow and there is not enough content in the 2 days to actually feel like you have actually learned something.  Of course you leave with an understanding of the topics covered in class but for the amount of time you spend in the class I personally would have liked to feel overwhelmed or loaded up and once again didn't have that feeling after class.  In the grand scheme of things I suppose this is better.

After our first day of class we were waiting outside for the hotel shuttle and Molly noticed this kaleidoscope flower plantar....of course they would have a kaleidoscope flower plantar.  Of course they would....

I do not like where this is going

The other night Brian and I were standing in the kitchen.  We were hugging and may have kissed :-)

Hannah was walking by and caught us.

Hannah: "Oh I do NOT like where this is going."

And then she just stood there looking at us smiling and giggling.  We got a pretty good laugh out of that one- where in the world do they come up with these things?!

Had to include this picture of the girls.  We had a nice day FINALLY around here- ONE.  The girls were able to break out their new swimsuits and play in the sprinklers. 

Slow much fun!

A while back Kim and Kristin sent us an invite to their B-day event.  They were getting a Pedal Pub and invited us along.  I hadn't responded because I sort of thought that they were asking us just to be nice and really wanted to save room for their friends.  I was pleasantly surprised when they texted me asking if we were coming because they were waiting to hear from us.  We were in and Amy was goin' on a Pedal Pub!

Whoop whoop!

The group

It was a ton of fun!  

Most of the seats on the pedal pub contain pedals that the occupants actually pedal to get this contraption to move.  We were steered by a guide that also gave us a list of 'rules' to follow: no hard liquor, no foul language, no jumping off a moving pub, no drinking while off the pub, etc, etc

Then we were off- the bell rings, he yells "Pedal on!" and the legs start spinning.

When we needed to stop the guide would ring the bell and yell "Pedal off", the legs would stop and eventually the pub would too.  There were a few times we were able to coast down a mini hill and enjoy all of our hardwork.

We made our way to Grand Ave and after a few stops finally made our way to Sweeney's and then back to Fabulous Ferns where our tour would end.

Grandma Bauer watched the girls for us tonight and did a fantastic job!  The girls had a great time and I think Grandma enjoyed herself as well.  I am sure she slept pretty good that night!

The head table...literally

It's amazing how some plans just work out.  Especially when there are multiple people to get coordinated.

On Mother's Day we were discussing how we needed to plan some time to get together to celebrate Kim and Kristin's Birthday.  We threw out the idea of the coming weekend and it worked!

Kristin immediately got on the phone to make reservations and within 10 minutes the plans were made and reservations at the Pope table were secured!  NICE!

We all came in different cars from different areas of the city but we all ended up together.

This table at Buca is HUGE!

We had 16 people and heard that it can actually squeeze in a few more.  

There is a lazy susan in the middle of the table that worked out slick!

The food was delicious and the company was stellar (as always).

Joe and Kimmy had ordered calamari for an appetizer.

I have had it before, one time at a dinner before Prom we ordered it and I remember eating it.  It didn't taste bad- sort of chewy but knowing that it was squid was enough for me to never feel the need to ever eat it again.    It was brought to the table tonight and Kim, Joe, Bobby, and Kristin dug right in.

The rest of us were a little more cautious and some of were downright positive that we weren't interested.

Then there was Hannah.....she was interested- no doubt.  It's food, she will try anything and even though half the plate looked as though it was covered with deep fried spiders she wasn't going to stop talking about it until one of those critters was in her mouth.

She started with a smaller ring.....mmmmmm, that's good.

Then she reached for the plate and grabbed one with legs (not sure if that's really what they are but it's what they look like for sure).  Holding it up in front of her she looked around to get approval from the table that this is really something that she should do and then in it went.

Pretty sure she finished the rest of the plate after that- I couldn't keep her out of it (and wasn't really trying to).  One thing I know for sure, this girl hasn't met a seafood she hasn't liked.

Only bad thing about that is that her mommy is not a fan so I never think to really offer it to her.

Gonna need to take her to Red Lobster one of these days......

It's a cube life

It's been a few weeks in our new office space.

We are officially packed in like sardines.  4 to a row, 8 to a pod.

Loriann and I decided it was time to make the most of our situation so we went out and purchased some cube-bling.  A few yards of fabric and a few frames later and we have a new workspace that is actually much more bearable.  It's amazing what a cute picture of your kids on your desk can do!

Wednesday nights at Brittany Park :-)

Tonight Hannah's team worked on the same skills but this time they simulated a game.

Each child had an opportunity to hit the ball from the tee while the kids on the other team fielded the ball.

With each batter the kids would advance one base until the last kid was at bat and got to run all the bases to get all of the kids back to the bench to switch places.

A little pre-game practice

This picture shows sheet excitement and joy in her face.  I LOVE this picture! 

 Standing on first (facing the wrong way), waiting for the ball to be hit so she can run to second base.

It was cute watching the kids wait for the batter.  In their ready position.

Once the ball would be hit they would all go running after it like a flock of baby chicks.

It was nice to see Hannah interacting with the other kids.

As the ball would be hit and they would all run after it, she didn't push or fight for the ball, she didn't cry or whine when she didn't get it, she didn't want to quit.  She just tried her best and had fun doing it.

Nice work buddy!

'Stop doing that'

The other day Hailey was playing by herself.

She was talking to someone as she made her way through the house.  She would ask him/her questions, answer those that were asked to her and talk with her hands when giving responses.

At one point she turned to her side while giggling and said "Stop doing that!"  (almost flirty-like)

A few seconds later she did it again "Stop doing that" while she shooed away an imaginary-thing going on around her mid-section.  

I had to know what this was all about.

Me:  "Hailey, what's going on over there?"

Hailey:  "My boyfriend keeps tickling me (giggle giggle- turn to her left again, shoo away the 'boyfriend').  Stop doing that.  Stop tickling me (giggle giggle)."

Monday nights at Brittany Park

Hannah is still enjoying T-ball.  This week they are continuing to work on throwing and fielding and have added running the bases and hitting.  After this week there is one more week before this mini-season ends.

Pretty sure we will sign her up for the full summer season that will start the week of June 10th.

Ready position

I love the look on her face in this picture.  She still needs work on her catching but she is getting closer and closer.  It's amazing to watch a few of the little boys who play catch so effortless with their parents.  It's not so natural for girls....that's been obvious, but, she'll get it.

First swings off the tee.  She did good!

RIP Viking Queen

Mother's Day

The day that most people are spending with their mother, Troy and Stacey were forced to say goodbye to theirs forever.  I am at a loss for words.

Joyce was taken from us today and it doesn't seem like it could possibly be real.

I can't imagine how difficult this time is for Stacey and Troy.

I can't imagine how hard it is to have to try to help your children cope with this loss.

Joyce was so good to me and my family.  She cared about us and always thought about us.  Every holiday the kids would get a card in the mail from Grandma Joyce- that card would always contain stickers!

She always had nice things to say about me and about my children and family.

I always loved her smile.  Some people just have a smile that is contagious and a smile that truly contains emotion- Joyce's smile was just that.  

She BEAMED when she smiled and it was obvious when she was happy.

She loved her kids and she adored her grandkids.

She will be missed by everyone that knew her.

I was blessed to be able to spend Mother's Day with my mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother today.

 Happy Mother's Day!