Happy Haunting

Our Little Kitty Cat and Wisconsin Badger Football Player!




Pumpkin Carving


The Lollipop Guild


Wizard of Oz

Stella's Vocabulary

Buddies

Stella's newfound mobility has really opened the door to Jack and Stella playing together. They can now be found playing together more often than apart. I came to realize this last Friday morning while Jack was at preschool and it was just Stella and at home. She wanted me to be her playmate all morning because Jack was gone. We've also realized she is really missing not having Jack at daycare with her very often. It is so cute how exited they are to see each other after a day, or even just a morning apart! And speaking of Jack being away at preschool, he is doing awesome and absolutely loves it. He talks about all his new friends, his teacher, and all the fun projects and activities he does while at school. We have to countdown how many days until he gets to go back each time we leave!

Look Out World, Here Comes Stella

Well, as you can see Stella is off! We knew she could walk for a while now, by the way she was cruising, and last week at just shy of fifteen months, she decided it was time. Typical of her little personality, she will do something on her terms when she is ready. She's already working on running now........much faster than her booty scoot we were used to, look out mom & dad!

Crivitz

We spent a very fun weekend in Crivitz at Grandma & Grandpa Mott's camper a couple weeks back. Jack caught his first fish, Stella went on her first boat ride and we had campfires, roasted marshmallows and enjoyed relaxing in the great outdoors of northeastern Wisconsin. Thanks for having us Grandma & Grandpa!

Lark Toys

Jack, Stella & I spent a fun day with Grandma & Grandpa Churness and Uncle Loren at Lark Toys. Besides having the coolest, most expansive toy store around, they also have mini golf, a beautiful hand carved wooden carousel and of course all the ice cream and candy a kid could dream of. Thanks mom & dad for treating us to such a fun day, and it was great to celebrate your birthday with you Uncle Loren!

Backpack and crayons and.....power outages?

It was 7:00am on Friday, and I was feeling confidently prepared and ahead of schedule getting Jack ready for first morning of preschool, when all of a sudden the dark, ominous skies outside worsened, the skies opened up, and after some terrible winds and a few flickers of the lights........darkness. Sitting in a pitch black bathroom floor with Jack on the toilet and Stella now lost in the darkness somewhere, my super mom confidence shifted a bit. Luckily it didn't take very long to locate Stella (about 2 seconds), her screaming really helped me to find her quite quickly, and Daddy came up with flashlights and we made our way downstairs where there was a little more light. We continued on with our morning breakfast lit with the light of the flashlights, cereal and bananas were now on the menu, thank god I had already brewed my morning coffee! The storm passed, we managed to finish getting ready and headed off to preschool, determined for Jack to have a great first day! We arrived at the school early and as we headed in we were greeted by a few teachers outside informing us that they too had no power and we were to wait around to see if they would be able to conduct classes as planned. Jack was pretty much oblivious to all that was going on, and just stuck in a "I'm so excited for my first day of school cloud." It would've broken my heart to tell him that after all these months of waiting he might not have school today. Thankfully the teachers decided to let the students into their classrooms to play even though there was no power and Jack's first day in his mind, to my best judgement, was all he imagined it would be.......playing trains and cars, yellow play dough, and a snack of juice and water and graham crackers with his friends at the round table. Jack was so proud to wear his backpack and did so great on his first day, he can't wait to go back. We are so proud of him and the great little boy the he is evolving into!

Jack, Stella & Company

We are very fortunate to have so many fantastic friends that live in La Crosse, all of which also have small children. It makes it so much easier to hang out regularly and include the kids! I am grateful Jack & Stella will have these little friends of their own to grow up with over the years, especially since they are lacking in the cousin department. We have had a blast enjoying many summertime parties and activities with friends. August always brings a feeling of bittersweetness, still more summer to enjoy, but the end is starting to be in sight.......sigh. We still have many summer activities on our summer bucket list, I guess we better get going!