Playing Catch up yet again!

Time just flies by lately.

Time to play some catch up here.

Last Friday John and I met The Aleshires and the Scherers for fish at Ron's Cozy Corner.

It was a great fun night.

I actually didn't want to go and would have talked myself right out of it if I could have but once we got there it was a great time.

On Saturday we walked around Carroll and then went to see Red Sparrow in Delafield.  It is a movie about Russian spies.  It was graphic but good.

We found ourselves at the Delafield Brewery for pizza and green beer.  We had seen a singer/comedian names Sigmund Snowpec back in 1984 at Summerfest and he was performing at The Brewhaus.

John requested, "Thank God this isn't Cleveland" a song we had enjoyed way back then and he played it for us.

It was a fun day and evening.

Sunday was a work outside kind of day.  spring is not here yet, but Sunday felt a bit like it might be around the corner.

I was on spring break this past week.  It was a wonderful break from my kids.  I love them, but I need a break every once in awhile.

I spent my spring break up in Oshkosh.

John and I headed up there on Sunday evening ready for  the next four days with the girls while Courtney and Paul spent a few day up in Door County.

The girls did not have spring break so we had to get them up and ready for school.  John dropped them off at 7:30.

We settled into a fun morning routine which involved watching Leave it to Beaver each morning before school.

I walked to pick the girls up each day.

We had to get Tiz to cheer for three hours on Tuesday night.

There was dinner and homework and bedtime.

Fifth grade math is tricky!

On Wed, we celebrated and remembered sweet Natnael's 8th birthday.

While the girls were in school, I cleaned and organized the Van Auken house getting it ready for rental when they move to Milwaukee for the year.

I love doing that for other people but not so much for myself

On Thursday Courtney and Paul returned and we came home that evening.

Tired, but full of happy memories.

On friday I cleaned my closet which led to other projects.

Today, Saturday more organizing and tomorrow my kids sing for Palm Sunday., then just resting up for school again!

Happy Spring everyone, bring it on.

Soli , Legos and another great weekend

We had Soliana this past weekend while her dad was at a gig and her mom and Tiz were winning another cheer competition in Illinois.

It was a fantastic weekend.

She arrived on Friday with John.

I had my variety fair at school all about Pete the Cat which, by the way, was a huge success.

John and Soli came and toured all the projects at school.

After the fair, I needed a beer, so John and I went to Sprecher and had a beer or ten.  Gigi and Soli stayed home and took care of each other.

On Saturday, Soli chose a quiet, laid back, stay at home day.

We build with legos, watched TV, and just had a relaxed wonderful day.

On Sunday Paul joined us for church and then everyone returned to their home.

We made lots of happy memories again this weekend.

May all your days be circus days

For at least the sixth year in a row, John and I took Soli and Tiz to the circus in Green Bay.

We always have such a great time at the circus and this year was no different.

The girls opted out of any animal rides this year, thank the Lord, because that saves us a lot of money.

There were lots of new acts and some of our favorite stand bys like the human cannonball.

After the circus, we ate an early dinner at The Golden Corral.  It was actually so tasty, not what I expected at all.  We sat there quite awhile just visiting and enjoying all the different food.

Of course, the girls enjoy the chocolate fountain!

We took them home and then we headed home for a quiet evening.

After church we enjoyed a much needed quiet, down Sunday.

Here are some photos;

The Wiz and other weekend tidbits

Here it is, Tuesday already.

These weeks just go by so quickly.

This past weekend was another great one spent with the girls.

Alissa came here on Friday and took mom and I up to Oshkosh to celebrate Courtney and Paul's birthdays.

We met John there and all went out to their favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.

After dinner, we went back to their house, opened goody boxes and had some cake.

John, my mom, the girls and I came back to Watertown while Alissa and Mallory (who also joined us) went out to celebrate both Friday and Saturday nights.

Here are a few photos from the night:

On Satiurday, John and I took the girls shopping at Walmart for birthday gifts for Paul and Courtney.

After that we watched Harmony for a few hours while the Budreau family went tubing.

We had a great time with her.

We took her to Macdonalds for dinner.

She loved the playland there.

After she was picked up, we spent the rest of the night watching TV and playing on the phones.

On Sunday, my kids did a fabulous job of singing in church and then we met Courtney and Paul in milwaukee to see the Wiz.

It was a great play and we all enjoyed it so much.

After that we all had dinner at TGiF at Miller Park.

Great way to end a great weekend.

Catch Up

Time just got away from me, yet again.

I need to catch up on last weekend and add this weekend's activities.

So, here goes...

Last weekend, Courtney, Paul,Tiz and Soli came here on Friday night.  We had a gun nigh of watching TV.  On Saturday morning, Courtney, Paul, and Tiz left for a cheer competition in Schaumburg.  John and I took Soli to the Milwuakee Art Mueseum.

The three of us had so much fun together.

Soli used her art book to look for all the art work and w:e found 24 of 26!

Here are some of our photos:

After our fun day at the museum we took Soli to Stonefire Pizza for some food and gaming.  We ate as soon as we got there, we were so hungry since we didn't eat any lunch.  The buffet is very good.  We played lots of games, Soli met a new friend and they rode the bumper cars and the other rides together.  She chose a lanyard and some pink teeth for her prizes.  We were ready to leave as the place was getting crazy and overrun with teens.

It was a full, fun day and there was more to come.

On Sunday we went to church and made plans to meet the rest of Soli's family at Mayfair on Sunday afternoon.

Courtney had left a few texts that said that tiz's cheer team had not done their best so there wasn't much hope for a first place, oh well, at least we were having fun.

We visited the Lego Store and Barnes and Noble at Mayfair before eating dinner at Five Guys.

It was a great meal with lots of fun conversation.

We love our Soli time!

Courtney, Paul, and Tiz arrived about 6:30 and Tiz was sporting a National Champion jacket which she got when her team won first place.

We were all so excited,

It had been a wonderful weekend for everyone!

It was spirit week at school and we only had three days this week so that was very nice.

My kids had fun dressing up in pajamas and crazy/clash clothes and enjoyed a pep rally.

On Thursday on went to Oshkosh with John on his way to work.

Courtney and I organized and cleaned all her closets as well as her craft room

We took 33 bags of donated stuff, and garbage out of that house.

They are getting ready for their move to Milwaukee.  They will live their for a year while Paul is on sabbatical.  The girls will attend Garden Homes Lutheran School.  I am so excited for them!  The school is 95% black so they will no longer be in the minority.

And, Tiz's cheer team got a bid to go to nationals in Disneyworld over mother's Day!  

The excitement just keeps coming for them!

We stayed at Oshkosh till Friday aftet John's work when the Courtney, Paul, Tiz and Soli left for another cheer competition at the Dells.

John and I enjoyed a night out at Bismark's with Louisa and Tim.  It is always fun to hang out with them and I hope they never get tired of hanging with old people.

Tonight we are going to meet Joan and go out with her.

Tomorrow we do church and then take it easy!

There now you are all caught up!. 

Ice Sculptures and a Visit to our Old Stomping Grounds

I wanted to do a little get away this weekend so when I read about the national Snow Sculpting Contest in Lake Geneva, I figured it would fit the bill.

I made a reservation for us at The Crossroads Motel which just happens to be the motel that John and my parents spent so much time at when we lived in Elkhorn.  They never stayed with us, choosing instead to stay at the Crossroads.

We arrived at Lake Geneva about 11:00.

It took quite awhile to find a parking place, but we finally did find one about six blocks from the lake which was a perfect distance and it kept us away from the crazy traffic.

WE had lunch at a potbelly sandwich place and then went down by the lake to see the snow sculptures.

They were very cool and there were lots of people.

It was quite an event.

At about 3 we headed back to Elkhorn and had margaritas and chips at a cute Mexican restaurant.

After that we checked into the motel.

It was nice enough but showed its age.  For $50.00 though we couldn't complain.

We decided to go to Sperino's for pizza and beer.  We had gone there 40 years ago when we lived in Elkhorn and we wanted to see if it was the same.

We were the only people in the place.  It was rather odd.  John liked the pizza but it was too cheesy for my tastes.

After that we went into the Pepperoni Pub which is next to Sperino's owned by the same family.

Had a few beers and then about 10:00 we went back to the motel.

We had to leave the TV on while we went out to dinner because it was so difficult to turn on and off.

This morning we woke up to at least 6 inches of snow.

The drive home was a bit slow on snow covered roads, but we made it just fine.

John did all the shoveling and now we are holed up waiting for the Super Bowl.

Here are a few photos from the weekend: