Supper with Aunt Nancy

We were able to get together with Grandma Judy, Great-grandpa Henry, and Aunt Nancy for supper tonight. Grandma Judy made the BEST popovers to go along with the spaghetti! We always enjoy getting together with the relatives when they are in town, and we thank aunt Nancy for working around our parent-teacher conference schedule this week! Deb and I have conferences tomorrow and Thursday night after school until 8:00. Sure makes for some long days! One of Jake's teachers stopped Deb today and said that Jake is a math wiz! He loves math and is always asking us to drill him with problems. Noah had his second basketball tournament this past weekend. The boys played well and showed a lot of improvent over the past week. Lydia is busy chasing the kittens all over the house. They let her do anything to them. She carries them around like a football, wraps them up in her doll blankets, and carries them in her doll carriers. The cats just attack the rest of us, and we have the scratches to show for it!

B-ball time!

Even though we finished up football last Saturday, that doesn't mean you will now find us at home on Saturdays. Basketball has begun! Noah had his first tournament yessterday in Turtle Lake, WI. His team has a lot of players who are playing competetive ball for the first time and they really did a good job. They beat Somerset, WI in the first game, just edged out Spooner, WI in the second game, but then fell to a tough Turtle Lake, WI team in the last game. It was a fun day!
Jake is also busy with basketball camp after school two days a week. He got up this morning and went out and shot some baskets in the cold. He says he cannot wait to play competetive ball too like his big brother.
We went out for Pizza last night with grandma Judy, grandma Sue and Papa, Pat, Trent, and Brody to celebrate my upcoming birthday. Yikes -39! We had many good laughs and saw the Biedermans (minus Donna) too!
The cats continue to entertain us ( and so does Jake!)

BOOOOOOOOO

Happy Halloween! The kids dressed up and we headed out on our usual route for trick-or-treating. First to Grandma Judy's, then Grandpa Henry's, George and Tonia's (Noah's caycare provider from when he was little) and then off to Grantsburg to see Papa and Grandma Sue along with Aunt Pat and cousins Trent and Brody. Lydia decided she had enough of being a princess and chose to be apumpkin. Jake has turned to the 'dark side' and was a Packers football player. Noah was a Twins baseball player. We enjoyed pizza with papa and grandma, and were able to see many of the 2nd cousins in costume when they stopped by.

It's Fall...

Even though we have had a stretch of some great weather the last few days, the reality is here that it is fall. I winterized the pool over the weekend, football came to an end for both the high school team and Noah's 4th grade team; there is yard work to complete, we carved pumpkin's with grandma Judy and great-grandpa Henry, and we attended a family Halloween party. Yep, fall is here. I just hope we have some fall and don't jump right into winter!
We are also ending the first quarter of school. Boy has the time gone fast. The month of November always goes really fast with parent-teacher conferences, end of the quarter workshop, and Thanksgiving all in there. We have a 5-day week with students this week, but it is the last 5-day week with the students until after Thanksgiving! Yikes!
We bought "Guitar Hero III' for Noah's Wii this weekend. The whole family is becoming addicted to that game. I love it that so many of the songs are ones from when I was growing up! Rock On Baby!

That's my leg, not a scratching post!

The kittens have been a lot of fun and entertainment. However we all have the claw marks to show from them! Thanks again to the Kloeckl's and Jacksons for feeding them while we were away. They have gotten so big, and now are able to get over the barracade we had set up to keep them in the basement. I think they had a great time while we were away in Florida!

What a great time we had!

We are all a little tired, and glad to be home, but what a great time we had the past week in Florida! We spent the week with Jill, Tom, Taylor, Jordan, Grandma Judy, Grandma Sue, and Papa Dennis. Thanks again to Jill and Tom for sharing their time share with us. The kids enjoyed swimming, mini-golf, playing Legos at downtown Disney, and even more swimming. We have a bunch of fish!
On Sunday we went to MGM studios and saw some amazing stunt shows. Jake and Noah really liked the Indiana Jones stunt show. Jake, Papa, Jeff, Jill, Taylor, and Tom also took on the Rock and Roll rollercoaster. WOW. That was the wildest ride I have ever been on! Tower of Terror was also quite a ride!
Monday brought us to Animal Kingdom and breakfast with the Disney Charachters. The food was great and we were able to get many pictures. Noah, Jeff, Grandma Sue, Papa, Jill, Tom, and Taylor all rode the new ride Expedition Everest. Lots of fun - but we really liked the safari and being so close to the animals!
Tuesday was a 'rest day' - just swimming and then dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Papa and Tom also played a round of golf in the morning.
Wednesday we were off to EPCOT where we all rode Test Track a few times. Lydia liked having her hair blow all over the place as we cruised at 65mph. The kids all got passports to have signed at each of the countries. We also took in Soarin' which was also an amazing experience - flying over California! We topped off the night with fireworks.
Thursday brought us swimming in the morning and Trick-or-Treating at night at the Magic Kingdom. We all went in costume and had a great time! Noah and Jake braved Space Mountain and we all stayed awake until we closed the park at midnight.
Friday was the recovery day - swimming, last minute shopping and packing to come home. We caught a 7:45 flight and were back in Minnesota by 10:15. We took naps yesterday, mowed the lawn, worked on laundry, and school work.
What a great time we had, but it is good to be home again!

Congratulations Jake!

Jake recieved the 'Good Citizen' award at school today for the first month of school. We are proud of how he is a helper, a good model for others, and the hard work he does in first grade, always trying his best. He said it was a great week since he also got to go to his buudy Justin's house to play yesterday too!
We have reached the mid-term mark for first quarter at school. Time is flying! I have one more tennis match left on Monday, and then my 8 1/2 week junior high tennis season will come to an end. They are a great bunch of girls, but it is time to be done for this year.
We have survived the first week with the kittens - no sneezing attacks yet from any of us, so that is a good thing. However< I have claw marks where they tried to climb my pants leg - only I was wearing shorts! I will post pictures of Joe Meower and Squirt soon.