Memorial Day

This year Spring is taking it's sweet time getting here. Memorial Day was the one exception. It turned out to be a beautiful day! We decided to go up the Kettle Moraine Forest with the Tollstams for a family beach & picnic day. It was a lot of fun and we are so blessed to have made such wonderful friends!

The Three Amigos

Geyer

Liam

JDB

Liam & Brandon

The water was freezing but the boys didn't care. :)

JDB & Liam sharing a seat

Silly boy!

Jackson & Daddy

Easter Bunny & Tooth Fairy

Last week was a pretty big week for Jackson. He had a visit from both the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. On Sunday we noticed he that had one loose tooth and by Sunday evening there were two! He wiggled them most of the night and the next morning and when I picked him up from school that day I wasn't surprised that he had lost one. Not only lost as in came out but really lost it. He said he put it in his pocket for safe keeping but we were not able to find it. When we got home from school we called Nana to tell her the news and as we were talking to her the other came out. Two teeth in one day! Of course that evening we had to make a letter for the Tooth Fairy. Jackson decided he wanted to type a letter to her and this is what it said " Der toothe fairy, I lost my two tethe. Plez lev me mane. Jackson" He sounded out the words he didn't know. :) At bedtime we put the letter and his tooth in a plastic bag under his pillow and the next morning he had $6 dollars from the tooth fairy.

The following Sunday was Easter and Jackson wasn't let down by the Easter Bunny. He woke early, as normal, and went to find his basket. The Easter Bunny was sneaky and hid it downstairs but filled it with books, legos, cookies, chips, a movie and a new stuffed bunny. After finding his basket and checking out the goodies, Jackson was ready to hunt for the Easter Eggs. It was a little chilly so he had to wear a coat and hat, but that didn't stop him from running after all the eggs. He even brought Bunny out to help him find the eggs.

Spring Break

Jackson's Spring Break was early this year, the end of March and during bball season. Of course we were glued to the TV watching the NCAA tournament and cheering on the CATS but it was also time for the HS tournaments as well. Since moving north, Brandon has gone each year to East Lansing with his dad to watch the MI HS boys tournament. This year it just happened to be at the same time as Jackson's Spring Break so we all decided to go to MI. While he and his dad were watching bball Jackson & I had fun visiting with family and friends. We had a sleepover at my sisters and he was in heaven playing with his cousins. I hope they are always that excited to see each other.

After the long weekend in MI we headed back home. Although Jackson was on spring break Brandon & I still had to work. So Nana was kind enough to come back with us and spend the week with Jackson. On our way back to WI we stopped in Chicago to go to the lego store downtown. Jackson LOVES legos and I have to admit that it really was a fun stop! Jackson had soo much fun playing with Nana that week. We all did. Thank you Marcia!!

Jackson w/Woody

Giant Lego Spider

Skully

Lego Dinosaur

Jackson, R2D2 & Daddy

Mom & Darth Vadar (Jackson took this pic)

Nana (Jackson was the photographer here too)


Polar bear playing with a ball

Lazy Tiger

Brewers Opening Day

Brandon & I were able to get tickets this year to Opening Day at Miller Park to watch the Brewers vs. the Braves. We both love going to Miller Park and watching the games so to get Opening Day tickets was wonderful!! You would think that the beginning of baseball season would mean the beginning of spring or at least somewhat warmer weather, but not this year. We actually woke up to dark, cloudy skies, with strong winds and then it hailed. Thankfully this all happened before we left the house so we knew to dress in layers (the park has a retractable roof but it's always cold inside). This was our first Opening Day and we know how crazy Brewer fans are but we weren't prepared for the parking situation. We left what we thought was early enough to get a space but apparently people had been waiting in line shortly after 7am (the lots didn't open til 10). So we ended up parking about a mile or so away and walked in the freezing cold to the park. Fortunately by the time we got to the park we only had to wait about 15 mins for the doors to open. Who was throwing the first pitch was a HUGE secret and when some of the Packers came out on the field to throw it, the entire place went NUTS!! It was a cool moment! Unfortunetly the Brewers lost to the Braves but what a wonderful way to spend a Monday!

The Brewers & the Braves

The first pitch(s) were thrown by some of the Packers!
The Super Bowl winning Packers!! Chipper Jones It's not a game without the racing sausages!!

Winter Fun

Trying to stay warm in the winter months we've found fun things to do inside as well as out. Here are a few:

Jackson & Tucker playing with legos. Crazy cat! Silly boy with Penguin Dean

My living room after leaving the two boys alone for a day (Brandon & Jackson).

Helping daddy lay flooring in the basement

A pocket for every tool. :) A yummy treat!

"Lightning McQueen", Jackson's wood project from school.

I got out of the shower one morning to this. He lined up all his animals to watch tv with him.

At the bottom of the sledding hill.

Jackson & Daddy taking a break from sledding. Oreo and Penguin Dean riding along with us. Crazy day at school.

Making treats for the birds.

Finished product.

Blizzard 2011

We had a little snow before the blizzard in early February but picked up another 18" in 24 hrs. It was bananas!! Needless to say school was closed, work was closed and we did a LOT of shoveling that day.

Here it comes...

Our backyard.
More snow...
Heading out to play in the snow before the blizzard.
Trudging through the backyard.
Swinging in the snow.
The morning after the blizzard. The snow was almost level with the bushes.
Our house from the street. Lots of digging out to do, but nice to see the sun. One of the many snow drifts on the roof.

Snow drift against the garage door.
Even Jackson helped out with the shoveling.

We were trying to make our way around the house. Not too bad here... A difficult to walk thru though. Now this was a deep drift. It didn't get any easier in the backyard. Almost to the front door.