Lazy Vacation Days

Most years, winter break seems to be over with very quickly--too quickly. But this year the kids had two FULL weeks off of school and G. had over a MONTH off of school. In addition, Grandma K. came and stayed with us for over two weeks.

It was so nice to not be rushed to get things done in a few days. We had lots of time to just relax and play with our new gifts.

Here's G. and M. I think he was holding her because he wasn't sure he'd be able to pick her up after she turned five..Here's T, probably watching "Myth Busters" on TV--giving his hands a rest from playing Guitar Hero III:

And here's Grandma K., begging me NOT to take a picture of her (I always was a lousy listener...):

Christmas Day

The "it's too early in the morning" photo:
Actually, the kids were the LAST ones up this morning! I got out of bed around 7:00, and the kids got up between 7:30 and 8:00.

Here's M., building a tower with all of her unwrapped gifts:
G., modeling the hands-free flashlight he got:
And the BIG hit of the day: Guitar Hero III for wii:
C. also got Dancing with the Stars for wii, and M. got Big Brain Academy--all three are really fun!

I got some cool laptop accessories, Uncle S. got a remote starter for his truck, and Grandma K. got an iPod!

Best of all, we have nowhere to go on Christmas day. :)

Christmas with G's side of the family

Yesterday we drove through blizzard-like conditions to celebrate Xmas with G's side of the family--his parents, his sister and her family, and his brother and his family.

We all had a great time! I didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few:

Four of the boys, watching the train go around the tree:



Ready to open presents (all but the youngest):Time for presents??? All five grandsons:

Remember me?

Yikes! I am SO out of the habit of blogging. I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Apologies galore...

So here's the month in a post:

I got a new computer--a laptop! The kids' computer completely died (the motherboard on a crappy eMachines) and when I went to find a replacement, they had this Compaq Presario with a dual processor on clearance for $399--which was cheaper than any of the desktops they had.
I have always wanted a laptop ;) I haven't taken it out of the house (to cool coffee shops or wherever) yet, but just the fact that I OWN a laptop is cool. I didn't realize how much I used the number keypad on the right until I no longer had it! I also am not a huge fan of the touchpad, so have a mouse connected when the computer's at the desk. Still, going from a half dozen plugs (CPU, monitor, speakers, etc.) down to one makes the desk area a lot neater, too. And now C. wants one of her own for Christmas--she's thinking of saving her money to get one. With five people currently fighting over the internet connection on two computers, I am not discouraging her.


T. had his half birthday, so he's now closer to being ten than being nine. YIKES!



And here's a picture of C. and T. wearing the Halloween tees I bought them on clearance:

C. has been enjoying Schwa. Schwa is very cuddly and friendly and loves to be held. She isn't a big eater, though. We think she's maybe eaten two worms in the month + that we've had her...



And Grandma K. retired! She had enough vacation saved up that, although her birthday isn't until January, her last day of work was November 2nd. She's been down to visit already twice (and will be here for Xmas)--which is more than she often can make it in a year! The kids are loving it!


Besides that I've been tutoring like crazy (sometimes 7 times a week). I have a great bunch of students this year, and I am helping most of them with double subjects (both Science and Math). G. is on bedtime duty most nights and it's so nice to not worry about things like that. Even if he has an evening obligation, C. can watch the kids while I'm gone.

I also have sent in my application to substitute teach. I'm not sure if that's something I want to do for long-term, but if M. really does go to school fulltime next year, that opens me up (for either subbing or taking classes so that I can go back as a regular teacher). G. will have a few weeks off in January, and his semester finishes almost a month before the kids are out in June, so between that time (and actually Spring Break, too), I should be able to get into the schools enough to at least pay back my application fee and maybe I'll decide that I love subbing!

I've been helping out a lot at the elementary school (not many opportunities at the Middle School), and between M. and T's classrooms, plus the social events (coffees with other moms), I'm seldom home in the morning while M's in school. It's both good and bad!

We had teacher's conferences for all three kids, that overall went well. For the first time, C's conference was the harshest. All her teachers love her, but the disorganization and general sloppiness is catching up with her. I'm hoping that she'll figure things out before high school.

It was our turn to host Thanksgiving here for both families, but we lucked out in that my brother didn't come, so it was only my mom from my side, and G's brother and sister went to their in-laws, so we only had his parents! G's sister's family did come later, for dessert, but the actual meal was pretty simple.

And now I'm off to tutor, so I'd better post this, or it'll take another week to get anything on the blog! :) I'll try to do more keeping up.

Back-to-School Time!

School starts for my kids next Tuesday, but their cousins (who go to a Catholic school) started yesterday. G's sister (K) and I have started a tradition of taking our girls out for one last celebration before school starts. This is the first year that M. could go, too!

We go to a cute, quaint little restaurant in Cedarburg called Cream and Crepe. (go ahead--click over and look at the menu!)

Here's the girls:

After some yummy crepes (Creek Specialty for M & B; Tree of Life for C; Combination Star for K and Noon Day Lily for me), we took some time to wander through the cute, kitschy shops (or is that shoppes?) of Cedarburg.

K. and I decided we should open up a little shop that sells glass things, stinky candles, lawn ornaments, retro candies, and serves coffee, because there aren't nearly enough of them in Cedarburg.

We also walked past a church that I think even MY family could attend. Doesn't that look like a stained glass image of Darth Vader?
And then we headed back to Cream and Crepe for dessert. C and I had the mocha ambrosia; K and B had the mosaic, and M. had Strawberry.

And then we met the guys, who had been doing more manly pursuits (eating cheeseburgers and going bowling).

Vacation, Day Four (August 12)

We started the day with a real "country" breakfast:

That's bacon from a local butcher; the tomato we got from the neighbor's (with basil from Mom's plant), and zucchini pancakes, made from the neighbor's zucchini. YUM!

Our luck held out and the rain held off for our trip to Lake Superior. We live right near Lake Michigan, but Lake Michigan is SO much more dirty/polluted that I worry about letting the kids swim in it. So every summer when we're at Grandma's, we have a day at the "beach". Lake Superior is VERY cold (it's very deep and never really warms up), but that doesn't stop the kids! Here's some pics:
Everyone, packed in for the trip

There were HUGE waves and they kept tipping the kids off their raft and innertube.


One of the most fun things to do at Lake Superior is pick rocks. Somehow, the prettiest rocks in the world (IMO) wash up on the shore of Lake Superior!

After a trip back to my mom's for showers (those waves really carry sand into...uh...certain parts of your body), we headed back into town for supper at Mom's friend's restaurant, Pizza King Joe's.

Vacation, Day Two (August 10)

I had promised the girls (C and M1) that I'd take them shopping, as M1 needed a knitting needle to finish her project and besides, is there anything more fun for 12 YO girls than shopping? :)

We headed into town and visited my mom's coworkers (it's so fun to show off the kids and how much they've grown since the last visit). Then we went out to lunch (see how visits up North are all about the food?) at one of G's favorite places: Don and GG's.

C, M1 and I took all of about 2 hours to hit EVERY store in Ironwood, MI and Hurley, WI! The girls found postcards and C. found a cute pair of gauchos.

Mom made a yummy supper of burgers on the grill (from a local butcher--O'Dovero's) (Boca for the vegetarians in the group) and grilled veggies from the recipe I'd posted here.

Due to the rain, Uncle S. (a firefighter) had the weekend off, so he brought his ATV over to give the kids rides. I even got to drive it! Here's some pictures from that:

Vacation, Day One (August 9)

Once again, our big vacation for the year was a return to my hometown area. This year we took along a friend of C's--M1.

We left at 9:00 am, and after a brief detour home (forgot the gift for Grandma and headphones for the iPod), we were on the road.

It was a pretty wet ride--alternating between drizzle and downpour, with brief spots of clear skies.

We found a place outside of Wausau that sold fireworks (and was open), so we stopped and picked some up.

On the way through Woodruff, we decided to actually stop (for the first time) and visit the World's Largest Penny.

The family, with M1 instead of me:

Me, subbed in for M1:
And the plaque, describing why they put a giant penny in Woodruff, WI:

It rained the rest of the way North (my mom was very happy for this, as it hadn't rained there for MONTHS--seriously, the trees had started turning from the drought!), but wasn't too bad when we arrived in Iron Belt.

Mom cooked a fantastic supper of tenderloin and salads. After supper, the kids found some blackberries, and when it got dark, we lit half of the fireworks.

Back from vacation!

Wow! We accomplished a LOT in 3 1/2 days!

We left Thursday morning, after T's tennis class.

When we got to my mom's, she had made (as always) a wonderful feast for us. This one included BBQ ribs, fried potatoes, sauteed veggies, salad, and bread. After supper, my mom and G. took the kids over to my mom's friend's farm.

T. made a friend there:
They all got to ride--C. for a really long time:


(I love how that picture makes it look like she's going REALLY fast, while in actuality she was being led around in a walk)

On our trip up, we'd stopped and bought some (legal) fireworks, since I personally believe it's not summer unless you get to burn something! :)

The older two were introduced to snakes:

And then daddy lit the "big" fireworks:




Then T. got a tattoo:


Friday C. and I did some shopping (as much as you can do in Ironwood, MI!) and found a first-day-of-school outfit for her, and some bedside lamps for the master bedroom (pics when I get bulbs in them).

Friday night was the first of my reunion festivities. It was an informal gathering at a bar owned by a former classmate's brother. I knew G. would be bored, but I didn't want to go alone, so I dragged my little brother along. It was a REALLY fun time! Unlike my tenth reunion (which I found, at best, kind of awkward), it seemed as though we'd all moved on enough and were happy with where we are in life. I talked to a lot of people who I had not seen for twenty years!

Saturday was a family day at another former classmate's farm. Again, more fun and socializing with my classmates (and spouses) and the kids had a FANTASTIC time! There were pony rides:
And tours of the dairy farm:

(this is a giant pile of sawdust and straw mix--used for the cow's bedding--that all the kids were jumping down and rolling in...)

There was a hayride, baby bunnies, golf carts for the kids to drive, and general fun!

It was a truly exhausting day, though, as is evidenced by M--pictured about 5 minutes after getting in the car:

Saturday night was the actual reunion (posing for the class picture; dinner; reading the class prophecy, etc.), and then we drove back yesterday.

I'm still trying to recover (and do laundry and all that), but it was a very good visit. We'll be back in less than a month!