Feb. 28, 2015 - Neighbors

We've been talking about getting together with our neighbors since summer.  But it just never happened.  Everyone has kids and schedules get busy really fast.  But tonight, we finally made it happen.  We went out to eat and had a great time.  Probably stayed out a little too late but the company was good so it was worth it.  We were only missing one neighbor couple.  We'll have to make sure they come next time.  Thanks for a great time guys!  The men of the neighborhood were here too, they just didn't make the cut for the picture. 

Feb. 27, 2015 - Friday with a Boot

This is what Friday nights at the gym look like when you're in a boot.  I've had the privilege of sitting and watching A LOT!  This time it brought back memories of sitting in the Immanuel gym on Friday nights during high school watching a certain guy play basketball.  You might think that sounds boring, but I didn't mind too much.  The scenery was pretty good.  As it is tonight. :)

Feb. 26, 2015 - Glove Oil

I know baseball is getting close when the glove oil comes out and I can find Dan sitting in his chair glove in one hand and oil on the other.  Noah and Ethan both got new gloves this year so they need some breaking in and softening up.  Sometimes the rubber mallet even comes out. 

Feb. 25, 2015 - Girl's Night and Bingo

A few of my friends and I decided to get out of the house tonight.  Amy Miller had a birthday to celebrate and that's all the excuse we need sometimes to get together.  We found a place that had good food specials and Bingo.  I was quite unlucky tonight at Bingo but Karen won once.  She chose from the prize box and got a slinky!  Doesn't get much better then that.

Feb. 24, 2015 - You Never Know What Will Be At the Mall

I ran to the mall today after kindergarten was over.  Jake was with us and we were just kind of wandering around, wasting some time, when we found this weird vehicle.  I'm not really sure what to call it.  It's not really a car, it's more like some kind of ATV but it goes up to 120 mph and it only has three wheels.  I think we might need to get one!

Feb. 23, 2015 - Basement Baseball

Winter is getting long.  And baseball is quickly approaching.  So Dan rigged up a backstop in our basement.  The kids can hit into it with real baseballs or they can pitch at the target.  It's something that is definitely needed during long Wisconsin winters.  I'm quite thankful for an unfinished basement right now!

Feb. 22, 2015 - Slushies on a Freezing Day

It is incredibly cold again today, I think temps barely got above 0, but we decided to get slushies anyways.  What better way to pretend it's almost summer then to have a summer drink?  We'll do anything here in WI to make winter better.

Feb. 21, 2015 - Y Basketball

Every Saturday for the past month or so Bryce has had a basketball game at the Y.  He's having a great time playing and he even ended up having 3 of his friends from Messiah on his team.  It's so much fun watching them all play, it's a little glimpse at the future Lancers.

Feb. 20, 2015 - Flash Back Friday

Noah, Ethan and I were all struck with "the bug" today so needless to say there were no pictures taken.  So I thought I would post a picture from a much more enjoyable time.  This is from October when Dan and I were in Florida.  Oh what I wouldn't give to be back there right now.

Feb. 19, 2015 - Feeling Better

Sawyer was feeling much better today.  So we got the Legos out and started putting together some old sets.  He had to get them all arranged just so before I could take a picture.  He is becoming quite the Lego Expert.

Feb. 18, 2015 - Sick

Sawyer woke up last night with the stomach flu.  It was a long night to say the least.  Dan stayed home from work with him because he's fighting a pretty nasty cold and didn't feel up to being at work today.  He snapped this picture today while they were laying around on the couch.  Poor guys!

Feb. 17, 2015 - Fun With Crutches

All of the boys, except for maybe Ethan, have been seen playing around with my crutches.  Ethan has had to use crutches so the novelty of them is lost on him.  The rest of the boys have not had them so they think it's kind of fun to pretend.  I think we'd have to get smaller ones for Sawyer though.

Feb. 16, 2015 - Immanuel Basketball

The Immanuel girl's had their last home game tonight so we thought we would go watch.  Ethan was sitting in front of us with some friends and I tried really hard to get a good picture of them but some of them weren't wanting to cooperate.  So it turned out so-so.  Sawyer however, was more then happy to get his picture taken.  Go figure!

Feb. 15, 2015 - Cakes

Every year on Valentine's Day the boys make little heart cakes and decorate them.  We didn't get to them yesterday since it was rather a busy day.  But we did them today and they turned out pretty good.  It's always funny to see how each kid decorates their cake.  I only have 3 heart pans so Noah got stuck with a little loaf cake.  I'll have to get another heart pan for next year I guess.

Feb. 14, 2015 - Basketball and a Show

What better way to spend Valentine's Day then at a basketball tournament?!  Ethan had one in Athens, WI and they ended up taking 1st! 

We got home from the tournament and changed to head out to Menomonie with friends.  I saw an advertisement for a dinner and comedy show about a month ago and thought it would be a fun thing to do on Valentine's Day.  Dan and I don't normally do much on this day so it was definitely a change of pace for us.  The food was good, the comedian was hilarious and the company was great.  What more can you ask for?!

Feb. 13, 2015 - My Helper

Since I've had the boot on, there have been a few things that have just been kind of difficult to do. Giving Sawyer a bath is one of them.  Ethan kindly volunteered to help me out tonight.  What a good big brother. 

Feb. 12, 2015 - 200,000

Today was the day that the Jetta reached 200,000 miles!  Dan had to drive to West Bend for work today and he was pretty excited to see it switch over.  Unfortunately, he missed it by a 30 miles as he was running through his presentation in his mind.  But he got a picture.  Quite the milestone.  Hopefully it continues to run for awhile.

Feb. 11 , 2015 - Spreading the Love

The boys have their Valentine's party at school tomorrow so this evening was spent getting valentines ready for their classmates.  Ethan had the most to do with 31 classmates.  Noah took the quickest way out by labeling each one "To: You,  From: Noah" fairly ingenious I think.  Bryce and Sawyer each wrote each of theirs out.  Quite the task but everyone got it done

Feb. 10, 2015 - The Boot

After 2 weeks of walking around on a swollen and sore ankle, I decided it was maybe time to go in and see a doctor.  After a pretty thorough exam and study of my x-rays, Dr. Atkins was pretty confident that nothing in my ankle was broken.  Good news.  He did however say when I do something I really do it.   It looked like the 3 ligaments that run along the outside of my ankle into my foot as well as the muscles surrounding them were all pretty damaged.  So.....he gave me a boot to wear for 4 weeks!  When I'm not in the boot I have to use crutches until I care bare weight with relatively no pain.  If it makes my ankle better, I'll wear it!  So meet my new accessory for the next few weeks. 

Feb. 9, 2015 - Pizza Ranch

Today Bryce's class went on a field trip to Pizza Ranch.  They got to go back into the kitchen and see how the pizzas were made.  Best of all, they got to eat the pizzas when they were done.  This may have been the best field trip yet, free pizza and I had a day off from packing a lunch for Bryce!

Feb. 8, 2015 - More Games

Sawyer just might be addicted to Monopoly.  He has asked to play it almost everyday since I posted the pictures of us playing before.  Today, Dan took Sawyer and Noah on.  Sawyer almost pulled out the win again, but Dan prevailed.  That kid has quite the wheeling and dealing skills!

 

Meanwhile, Ethan and Bryce played basketball.....on the Wii.

 

Feb. 7, 2015 - Another Crazy Day

We had a lot going on today.  Ethan had a tournament with the Eagles in Arcadia that he and I went to.  They took 2nd place and Ethan played well.  Way to go boys! 

Then we raced back to Eau Claire to catch the last game of the tournament that the Messiah A Team was in.  They ended up taking 3rd.  This was also Noah's last game with the Messiah boys team.  He still has CLC tournaments coming up but this is it for his grade school boy's basketball career.  Crazy to think we're to that point already.  Just a few short months and he'll be a high schooler!

 

After a quick stop at home for showers, we headed out to Falkenberg's for Erica's birthday party.  We had a lot of fun helping them celebrate.  I can't believe this girl is 10 already!  Where does the time go?

Feb. 6, 2015 - Hard at Work

So I've been telling Dan that he can feel free to take pictures for this blog if he thinks of it.  Today, he thought of it.  He decided we needed a glimpse into his day at work and asked a co-worker to take a few pictures for him.  It looks like he's pretty busy if you ask me.

 

Feb. 5, 2015 - Exercise in Winter

So when it's cold out and you can't get outside, you look for anyway for kids to burn energy off.  We recently rediscovered our exercise balls and Bryce and Sawyer have been having a good time bouncing on them.  Definitely a good way to get rid of some energy.

 

Feb, 4, 2015 - Ladies Night

Wednesday nights are usually my nights to play volleyball.  My ankle is still swollen and pretty sore though so there will be no volleyball for me for awhile.  My friends still let me come watch though.  And tonight some of us headed out afterwards to just hang out and catch up.  I love these ladies! I feel pretty blessed to have such great friends!

Feb. 3, 2015 - Snow Tubing

This is another day I didn't get a picture taken.  Fortunately, Dan had taken a number of pictures when Messiah's youth group when snow tubing last week.  The youth group headed to Christie Mountain and had a blast tubing down the big hill for a couple hours.  Sawyer spent most of his time tubing with Krystal but he also took a few rides with our new pastor, Caleb Schaller.  It sounded like everyone had a great time and can't wait to go again.

Getting towed up the hill.  This is the way to get up a hill!

Sawyer loves hanging out with Krystal!

Noah took quite a few runs with Abby.

Getting ready to hit the slopes with Pastor Schaller!