Mother's Day Weekend Getaway

I am waaaaay behind on posting to this blog, because I so often just post a photo album to facebook and call it good.  I still want to keep this blog going though, because this has become my "scrapbook" of this crazy beautiful life we've been blessed with.  For today, I'm just going to post the most recent update and then, maybe, I'll find some motivation to catch up on other long overdue posts (like what we've been up to since January...)

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For Mother's Day this year, my sister, Melissa, and her boyfriend, Nate, invited us to the annual Mother's Day Brunch at the golf course where Nate works.  My family decided to make a weekend getaway of it by spending Friday-Sunday at the Metropolis Resort, a hotel nearby with an indoor water park and game room.  The kids could hardly wait to go "simmin" and Almanzo was especially excited to see Nate, because, as he says, "my yike Nate!".

Friday morning, after a week long packing process (because there's no such thing as last minute packing OR packing light when you have three kids!), I loaded up the van and cleaned up the house in case there was a house showing while we were gone.  Ted came home after lunch and we were on the road by mid afternoon for the three and a half hour drive.  We made it there just in time to check in and head out to dinner with my family at Chipotle, which had many gluten free options so I could also enjoy eating out for a change.

After dinner, the kids wasted no time getting their swimsuits on and demanding we all go down to the water park right away.  They just couldn't wait any longer!  Almanzo was really nervous about the water at first, but by Saturday morning he was going down the kid's slide over and over.  Valerie, on the other hand, surprised us all by going down the BIG water slide with pretty much every adult in our group at least once.  The slide was a long, twisting, dark tunnel that ended in a three foot pool with a big splash.  She wasn't scared one bit and laughed when she got splashed with water at the end.

The lazy river was right after the end of the water slide and Valerie thought it was so funny to go under the water falls along the way.  She even tried to swim a little in the ramp between the kiddie pool and the 3 foot pool.  She was so proud of herself - "Look, mommy!  I simmin!" she yelled and then dunked her head under water and came up giggling.  Where, oh where, did my baby girl go?!

Oliver loved the water too, even the water falls on the lazy river.  He just blinked away the water and then smiled.  He loved to splash and crawl around in the kiddie pool with cousin Karli, who was all smiles and giggles too.  We spent most of the waking hours besides meal times swimming, swimming, swimming!

We also took some time to check out the game room for some "market research", because, when your dad works at Bay Tek Games, that's just what you do.  My parents purchased a few game cards and let everyone take turns playing games.  They were excited to use the tickets earned to get Valerie and Almanzo a t-shirt souvenir as well as a little toy to take home.  Of course, it would have been cheaper to buy a t-shirt, but we all had fun checking out all the Bay Tek Games we could find there as well as some of the "competition".

Sunday morning, we all packed up and then headed over to brunch at Lake Wissota Golf Course.  All the moms received a beautiful rose and then we were all treated to a beautiful and delicious brunch buffet.  There were so many options that I was able to fill an entire plate with gluten free and dairy free foods.  I felt so spoiled and blessed to be able to spend the day with both my mom and my entire family.  It was the perfect gift and just what this mom needed.  I'm so grateful for Ted, who sacrificed of a lot of time I know he would have rather spent biking (especially when the mountain bike course was RIGHT next to the hotel) and works so hard to make sure we can enjoy special getaways like this.  I am so very blessed!

Project Life 2012: Weeks 51 & 52 {Christmas}

December 16 - 22

This week was crazier than expected when Valerie ended up having tonsil/adenoid surgery.  We were also busy finishing up last minute things on our Christmas to do list like mailing out Christmas cards & baby announcements and packing for a week in Michigan visiting Ted's family.  I blogged more about the surgery here.

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December 23 - 30

Saturday morning, we packed up the van and began the long drive to Michigan.  With three kids, including a newborn, we knew we'd be stopping at least for lunch and dinner, so we braced ourselves for an entire day of driving.  We brought along my laptop with DVDs and plenty of toys to keep the kids entertained.  We stopped for lunch at Sarah & Dan's new house and enjoyed a break from traveling to visit with Sarah and little Danny. The rest of the drive went well, but we arrived at Ted's parents house just before midnight, exhausted and tired from a long day of travel.

Ted's older sisters, Sarah and Lisa, and his brother, David, were not able to travel home for Christmas this year, so it was a much quieter Christmas.  We enjoyed visiting with Ted's parents and attending the Hanes family gathering after church on Sunday.  The kids had a blast playing with (uncle) Joey and (uncle) Robbie.  Almanzo and Robbie are so funny together, giggling over the silliest things and chasing each other all over the house.  Almanzo says, "My like Robbie.  He's fun." 

Laura & Eric and Justin came over the weekend to visit as well.  Along with Mackenzie and Vickie, we all enjoyed staying up at night to watch some Hallmark Christmas movies Ted's mom had recorded on the TV.  There's something about a quiet night in the country in a home heated by a wood stove that just says Christmas to me.  It was so relaxing and the smaller gathering this year allowed us to spend some more one on one time with family members we don't get to see often enough.  


Christmas morning, the kids woke us up bright and early at 6.  We opened the gifts from our stockings and gave the kids their gifts from us before gathering with the rest of the family for breakfast.  After breakfast, Ted's dad read the nativity story straight from the bible and we all exchanged gifts.  We then enjoyed a Christmas lunch along with birthday cake for Jesus and a quiet afternoon nap before going to visit Ted's grandparents.  Mackenzie joined our little family and Ted's grandparents were so happy to see us all.  Having lost my own grandparents so recently, I know how precious time is so I cherished that time spent with Ted's grandparents. 

On Thursday morning, we packed up the van again and drove back home.  The drive home always seems longer, especially when we ended up driving through Chicago during rush hour.  At one point, in the middle of Chicago traffic that was almost at a stand still, all three kids were crying and I wanted to cry right along with them.  Somehow I managed to calm Ollie back to sleep and then put a movie on for Valerie and Almanzo that was just long enough to last until we stopped for dinner.  After dinner, the kids all fell asleep and we carried them into bed when we finally arrived home late that night. 

Friday morning, we packed the van yet again and drove to my parents' house.  We enjoyed Christmas with my family that night and then a Christmas gathering with my mom's family on Saturday.  It's a tradition every year for the cousins to perform a nativity play.  It was bittersweet to celebrate Christmas in my grandparents' home without them, but traditions like this keep their memory alive.  This year, my mom asked me to direct the play and my cousins came up with the most hilarious addition to our yearly tradition - the narrators read their lines southern preacher style and the actors sang their lines.  We were all laughing so hard by the end and the memories we made will last a lifetime. 

Project Life 2012: Weeks 48 - 50

November 25 - December 1



This was an emotionally draining week.  On Monday, I attended the funeral of a friend's newborn son, born the day after Oliver and on Friday, at MOPS, the pastor from Community Church spoke about hope in the midst of grieving as we all tried to process our friend's loss.  My kids, unfortunately, have experienced too many losses in their short life already and understand far more than we give them credit for.  During their play time, I often hear them talking about how great mommy got sick and died and one night, after talking about my friend's sick baby who died, Valerie was in tears.  She had the start of a cold and, as she coughed, she sobbed for daddy and gasped in between sobs, "I not want to die!"  We are grateful for the hope of heaven we are able to talk to our children about, but, still, the hard moments of life are so very hard to grasp, even as adults.  I took few photos this week, but instead stored up memories in my mind of precious moments spent simply living life with our little ones.  So, instead of a photo, I'm sharing a fun little video of our kids, because these are the moments that make the hard ones bearable. 

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December 2 - 8

This weekend, uncle Eric, aunt Laura, aunt Sarah, and cousin Danny came to visit and meet our Ollie.  Valerie and Almanzo had so much fun playing with cousin Danny, who quickly made himself right at home playing with their toys.  They made it just in time for lunch and then stayed for a couple hours to visit.  Oliver got plenty of cuddles with his aunt Sarah and aunt Laura and Almanzo had fun climbing all over uncle Eric.  We just wish they all lived closer so our visits weren't so few and far between!

The kids and I took a mini vacation this week to visit my sister, Kelly, and help her with Karli while she finished up her last semester of college classes.  The kids were so excited to have a sleep over with aunt Kelly and we loved having the extra time to spend with cousin Karli.  One of the nights we made a quick Target run with all four kids and then drove by the big lit up Christmas tree in the middle of downtown.  The kids were in awe of it.  On the way home from our visit, my mom met us to drop off some St. Nick's Day goodies for the kids.  I love that they still spoil us with little gifts like that. 

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December 9 - 15

 

We finally put up the Christmas tree this weekend and the kids just love staring at the lights.  We don't really do Santa in our house, because we want to focus on the One who came as a baby lying in a manger.  We decided last year to give our kids three gifts each, just like the three gifts the wise men gave Jesus.  We have a Fisher Price nativity set my parents bought the kids a few years ago and it's so sweet listening to them talk about the baby Jesus.  When we sit down for a family meal, we light our advent wreath and talk about the nativity story.  I just love watching them soak up these truths and hear their hearts for the Lord already.

We spent the rest of the week wrapping gifts, packing for our trip to Michigan for Christmas, and making these fun ornaments.  The kids had so much fun painting the ornaments to give to their aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  It's a good thing I had washable paint, old t-shirts for paint smocks, and disposable table cloths, because they made quite a big mess!

Our week ended with a college graduation party for my sister, Kelly.  I'm so proud of how hard she worked to gracefully balance being both a mommy and student.  She is totally a rock star in my book!  My parents held an open house at their home after the graduation ceremony and we celebrated with a house full of family and friends.