Celebrating mom's 87th Birthday in Grand Style

Mom turned 87 on November 4.

On the day of her birthday, I made BLT's which John and I enjoyed with the birthday girl.

I had picked up Grandma Bresslow's cherry pie for dessert.

It was a yummy dinner.  We all enjoyed it.

Alissa arrived on Friday night.  Nathan had to work so he was not able to join us.

We missed him.

John, Lis, mom and I went to Bismark's for burgers and beers.

So began the weekend of celebration for mom.

On Saturday, Kev, Vikki, Nic, Mal, Lis, mom, John, and I headed up to Oshkosh.  We stopped at Schreiner's in Fond du lac for lunch.

My mom and dad always enjoyed stopping at Schreiner's back in the day and she was so excited to have lunch at this former favorite spot.

Mal and mom enjoyed a Bloody Mary.

After lunch we arrived at the Van Auken home.

Mom opened her gifts and actually did very well with the goody box.  She guessed eight out of ten correctly.

 We posed for this big family photo.

And then it was time for cake.

 Here is my mom with her three grandaughters, one grandson, and two sweet grandaughters.

We all enjoyed dinner at Beckett's.

 We enjoyed a few drinks at the table with the fire.

 These three lovely ladies beautified the bar.

After dinner Nic watched Soli and Tiz so that the rest of us could go to Screwballs and enjoy Paul's band for awhile.

John, mom, and I left around ten and relieved Nic of his duties.

 

On Sunday we went to church and then our for lunch together one last time before our fun weekend was over.

 

I am so happy that my mom is healthy enough to still enjoy big weekends like this with all of us. 

Just to watch her tapping her foot to Paul's singing,in a very crowded bar full of young people was heartwarming to me.  She is up for anything.

I hope I am just like her if I live to celebrate 87!

 

 

Halloween and other things

I had Thursday and Friday off last week.

I rode up to Fond du Lac with John on Thursday morning.  Having his new job in Fond du Lac has its perks for sure.

Speaking of his new job, he seems happy and is enjoying it very much.

Being back behind a desk doing his CAD thing seems to be what makes him happiest.

I will be honest here, I had some trouble adjusting to having him get up at the same time I do and having him get home just a bit after I do.

I actually enjoyed his old schedule at the plant.  He worked from 1 - 9 so he was able to do any errands for me in the mornings.  Now he can no longer run to the bank, post office, or grocery store.  I also liked having the evenings to myself.  I looked forward to 9:20 when John would walk through the door and share stories from the plant.

I know that he is so much happier now, but I can't help that I miss parts of the old schedule.

I am doing better this week though.  It just takes adjustment and time.

Anyway, back to Thursday morning.  John left me at a MacDonald's where I waited for about half an hour for Courtney to come pick me up.

I worked on organizing the girls' rooms and the playroom.

I worked all day on Thursday and then half of Friday.  I really enjoy organizing other people's stuff, not so good with my own.

John drove up after work on Thursday night.

We ordered Rocky Roccoco while Courtney, Paul, and the girls met some friends for dinner.

On Friday, John left for work, the girls left for school, and I organized some more.

I went to pick Soli up from 4K and we played together in the afternoon.

We all had dinner at Fratello's.

Came home and watched some old Andy Griffith reruns.

On Saturday, the girls put on their Halloween costumes although neither of them was any too excited about trick or treating.

Tiz made a terrific Michael Jackson and she had all the moves from Thriller down.

Courtney had shared her love of Michael Jackson with the girls and now they love him, too.

Soli wanted to a red power ranger, she loved the muscles.

Courtney and I talked about how we do not really like Halloween.

I always felt so much pressure about the costumes, I could never live up to the other kids' homemade costumes.

John and I left for Manitowoc on Saturday.

I had to take some pictures in that area for a photo collage.

I had to take the photos in  very cold, windy, rainy weather, but I did manage to get a few nice photos.

We headed home from there and spent Sunday doing yard work.

Now that John works regular hours, we have to do our outdoor work on the weekends.

Here are the girls in their Halloween costumes.

A Weekend of Spending and Celebrating

This past weekend has been one of spending and celebrating.

Friday was John's last day of work at Create a Pack, the factory that hired him when no one else would.

He worked there for four months and it was an eye opening experience in many ways.

We are thankful that they took the chance and hired an old man for a young man's job.

John was so excited when he was hired at an engineering firm in Fond du Lac.

He started work there today.

He is back behind a desk and I know his body will thank him for that.

On Friday, he left work early and we went to Blue Moon in Lake Mills for pizza and beers.

It was a great way to celebrate his new job and my finished dental work.

On Saturday we headed to Brookfield Square for some serious Christmas shopping.

You know, it is  not even Halloween  yet, but I have to get my Christmas gifts purchased!

John bought new pants and shoes for the new job and I was pleasantly surprised to find a great sale at Shoe Carnival where I bought a new pair of boots and was able to get a second pair free!

We also bought Christmas ormanments which my mom gives to everyone.

Yep, it is her gift, but I have to pick them out.

I hope by the time I am 86, someone will do all my shopping for me, too.

We felt very accomplished after this shopping trip.

On Saturday night we went to the Alpha Resource Center's silent auction at the Plattduescher.

Not only were we able to bid and win some great items, but we were able to enjoy one of the finest swiss steak/pork chop dinners around.

After leaving the auction, we stopped at Lyons Pub for another drink or two just to celebrate our purchases.

 

On Sunday, my preschool classes sang in church.

I was nervous, I was not at all confident that they could  pull it off.

Well, I am not sure how to explain it, but they sang "Jesus Loves Me" so loudly and so proudly. They sang it right from their little God lovin' hearts, but they were all singing it in their own style!

It was quite comical.

I watched the video many times hoping that it would get better the more I watched it, but no such luck.

I know Jesus was very pleased with their praises even it I was not so pleased.

 

Short week ahead.

I will be up in Oshkosh on Thursday and Friday.

I have some organizing to do up there!

That is all for now.

Our Little Volleyball Player

This weekend John and I were able to watch Tizita play volleyball for Trinity Lutheran.

There is just something so magical about small school athletics.

I loved it when my girls played sports at St. John's and I see the same great benefits as I watch Tizita play in her first sports experience at Trinity.

Since it is such a small school, the children can play on the B teams in the third grade.

There are three third graders on the volleyball team and to watch those older girls (up to 6th grade) take those little ones under their wing and help them learn and play is so wonderful.

Tizita just loves playing and it has a lot to do with those older girls and a coach who is very hands off.

John and I just loved watching her play.

She may be little but she has a very powerful serve.

She also spent all day at her tournament which also reminds me of even my gradeschool tournament days.  Girls could not play sports in my day, but we cheered and we spent the entire day at the tournaments.

I know Tiz enjoyed eating all the concession food and hanging out with her teammates.

We were able to watch her play three games, the last one being the championship game.

In between games we took Soli out to lunch and then to the zoo for a trick or treat event which was fun, too.

Here are some photos from volleyball and the zoo event.

After the championship game which Trinity lost, Tizita and her teammates had to give the mdals to the winning team.

Tiz didn't like that one bit, but I thought is was pretty cool.

Here she is putting a medal around a girl's neck.

And, here are the zoo photos

We had to just pull that costume out of the dress up clothes, but it worked pretty well.

She had a great time and got a pumpkin full of goodies.

After the last volleyball game, the girls came home with us for a sleepover.

We had so much fun as usual.

After church today we had lunch at Culver's with my mom and then did crafts for the rest of the afternoon until they had to go home.

Another great weekend.

Hiking, Packers, and Voice Issues

This past weekend was filled with fun.

The only bad part was that I have very little voice.

Started after Homecoming last week and I still cannot talk very well.

Let me tell you, it is very difficult for a teacher to have voice issues.

Hoping it comes back strong this week.

My preschoolers went to Ebert's on Friday.

As usual, it was a very successful, fun trip.

I had to make some minor adjustments because of the voice, but it all worked out.

More dental work on Friday afternoon, but there is an end in sight.

On Saturday we headed up to Oshkosh to hang out with Courtney and the girls.

Paul was visiting friends in Colorado.

We enjoyed the farmers market and Charlie's Hot Dogs for lunch.

After lunch we went hiking at Heckodt's Nature Center in Menasha.

What a nice place and no charge.

The fall colors were beautiful.

Only negative was that we did see a snake, well, luckily I did not see it, but the others did.

Here are some photos from the hike:

There is really nothing quite as pretty as fall in Wisconsin!

After some shopping and pizza at Christiano's, we watched Shark Boy and Lava Girl with the girls.

On Sunday, we all went to church to hear Tizita sing.

After church, John and I left for the Packer game!!!!  It was a gift from the girls and spouses for John's 60th birthday and it was so much fun.

The weather could not have been better.

Low 70's.

I wore flip flops, capris and a t shirt, almost unheard of in the frozen tundra at a Packer game.

The Packers brought home a victory against the Rams.

We had awesome seats, way up in the 700 section.

Here are some photos from our Packer time:

 The Navy fly over was so awesome!

Fireworks went off during the National Anthem, very moving.

It was a perfect weekend except for the voice, but I didn't let that spoil any of it.

Until next time.

Homecoming 2015 and a little bit of this and that

John and I went to Carroll's Homecoming this past weekend.

Sherri and Jeff Browning flew in from North Carolina and of course, Joan joined us, too.

It wouldn't be Homecoming without Joan!

We met up on Saturday at the Holiday Inn in Pewaukee.

Headed over to Carroll.

Took a self guided campus tour,

Ended up at a tailgate sponsored by old football players.

Met up with some old friends, had good conversation.

Ended our afternoon at Club 400 with a few beers.

Went to Thunder Bay for dinner, excellent food, lots of fun.

Stayed up late, talking.

Joan stayed in our room with us, snoring all around.

We all enjoyed a relaxed breakfast at the hotel on Sunday before heading our separate ways.

It was a memorable, fun Homecoming.

So good to see old friends.

And, here are my two sweet girls getting along very well.

Such sweetness!

School is going well this year so far.

I have 39 little ones.

September was a slow moving month, but October is flying by so far.

I have had to have some major dental work done.

This is what happens when you don't visit a dentist regularly, but I am getting it done.

Enough said about this.

Looking forward to a Packer game this Sunday.

They have a 4 - 0 record so it should be a good game.

That is it for now.