Monday, November 24, 2008

Leaves Fall Then Snow Falls

Well a couple of weeks ago we raked the leaves for the final time. We thought that they were going to come and pick them up, but they didn't quite make it down our street. Grandpa was off of work, so the girls and I headed outside to help him. Emma like using the push broom to sweep the driveway and Maddie liked using the leaf blower to clear out under the tree. Maddie headed back inside to warm up and Emma decided that she is more of a supervisor then a worker, so here she is "doing" yardwork with grandpa.



This morning at about 6:15 I was laying in bed and that is usually the time that the dogs across the street start barking, but this morning they were drowned out by the plow on the playground across the street. I know that sound and when I was in grade school and high school I usually rushed up to go look out the window and hope for a snow day. Knowing that there couldn't be that much snow, it actually made me move slower, because I knew that there would still be school. That meant having to get Maddie into boots and full snow gear. Luckily grandpa took her to school today, so I only had to get her ready. Any other morning I would have had to gotten Emma in her gear too. The girls were very excited about the snow and spent some of the morning just looking out the window. Most of it will probably be gone in the next couple of days since by Thanksgiving it should be up to 40 degrees. They both wanted to go out and play, but it is quite the wet snow, awesome for snowballs, but that's when you come in just soaking wet all the way through.



Maddie took grandpa to school today with her for her Thanksgiving Feast. They made lots of crafts and had some good snacks. Emma and I just hung out at home. I have to say that it was nice to not have to rush out the door on a Monday morning. Not only that, but I was able to take a shower in the house finally.

So in the beginning of October the plumbers came and gutted the downstairs bathroom and redid the plumbing. Since then my dad and mostly Uncle Kip have been sanding, tiling, grouting, and painting. Yesterday the two of them put the toilet, sink, shower fixtures, and lights in and we have a functioning bathroom. I was getting used to taking showers at the YMCA or even a bath upstairs. I know my mom is just glad that when she has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she doesn't have to come upstairs.

This week Chad has his first basketball game. So we will be over at school more, it also helps that my cousin plays on his team. My other cousin is on the girls varsity, so we will be out there tonight for her game. I have also taken over the 7/8 grade girls team at Mount Olive. So today is the first practice with me. They start league play on the 6th, so we have this week and next week to get ready.

We are having Thanksgiving with my parents and aunt and uncle. We will be up at the Janetzke's on Wednesday for church and then to hang out. Chad has practice on Friday and so I think he is hoping for a low key day on Thursday. Grandpa Heff's birthday is Wednesday and so Maddie is wanting to make a cake. Maybe we will tackle that tomorrow.

Maddie is really into helping cook lately. She has almost perfected mac n' cheese. She likes to be able to do anything to help out. She likes to be the "maker" as she calls it. She of course is still loving school. Yesterday we saw her teacher at church and that still is weird to her, to see her teacher outside of her classroom.

Emma is Emma, meaning she is the drama queen as always. She gets upset at the weirdest things. She all of a sudden hates baths. We think she is so worried that her toys or her are going to go down the drain, even though we don't take the plug out until she gets out. She is not liking this whole hat and mittens thing either. She tries to bargain and tells you that she will just wear her hood instead of her hat, but that only lasted until yesterday because a hood doesn't do as much as a hat. We try to give her a choice, so we don't have meltdowns. Usually like juice or milk, boots or tennis shoes. She really likes that she gets to pick out her own shirt in the mornings. She knows that she picks out the shirt and I get to pick out the pants. She doesn't like her wet diaper, but will not go anywhere near the potty. We will start trying a little bit more after the new year. She knows that to go to Mrs. Willer's class she has to go on the potty. I have a feeling she is going to be that kid who one day announces that she is done with diapers and just start using the potty. We will see. She loves to go pick up Maddie from school, because she likes to see Carter, who will be in her class next year, who also happens to be Isaac's cousin. She always has to look for them at church too. Let's just say she could be labeled as a stalker "girlfriend".

I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner. I have almost all my shopping done. I have just one more person, or technically Chad has one more person. I am hoping to avoid all stores for the most part for the next month. I went to the mall on Saturday to get my haircut and it was already just out of control. I then went to Target after that and it was just as bad. I was glad I didn't have the girls with me.

At least this post didn't come a month since the last one- as the holidays get closer, I'm sure I'll have more pics to share.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

A Long Overdue Post

Okay so where should we start- how about the beginning of October. We have had a few posts in between, but nothing too in depth.

Okay- so let's start with the Brewers. So we enjoyed our short stint in the playoffs after a 26 year drought. The third game was in Milwaukee on Saturday October 4th. Chad, myself, my dad, and my brother-in-law Joel went to the game. It was awesome to be there and we all enjoyed the game especially since they won. We went on to hang out in the parking lot for a little while afterwards. Sunday I wasn't planning on going to the game, but my aunt wasn't feeling well, so we had an extra ticket and I got to go again. The outcome wasn't as good as the night before, but it was still pretty cool to be there. I did take some pics on Saturday, but of course they are on the infamous camera that is still missing and I am just going to have to realize that it is gone and so are the pictures that were on it.

So the following week Chad headed up to Minnesota on Friday afternoon on the Megabus. It was a little late, but he made it up there and then headed to the Olson's to hang out. He managed a round of golf on Saturday morning and then hanging out with the Minnesotans. Sunday he went to the Vikings/Lions game with Mike and then back on the Megabus home. While he was gone, the girls and I managed without him. Saturday we went to uncle Kurt's flag football game. After we headed to the pumpkin farm with grandma and grandpa J, uncle Scott, aunt Kathy, cousins Luke and Ben, and aunt Kendra. It was the weekend where is was like 80 degrees and so the patch was crowded. If you want to see a couple pics, there are some on the Huster's blog (link on the right side). That evening we met grandma and grandpa Heff, who were babysitting cousins Ella and Kate for a hayride.

We have been in the normal routine of school during the week and Maddie is enjoying school. We have been to the pumpkin farm, it was cold and rainy, but the kids loved being able to feed all the animals. Maddie loves to read all the letters in any word she can find. Like in church when we sit down and you can hear her talking to herself saying," E-X-I-T". She has a little trouble with lower case letters that don't look like the same uppercase letter.

So the weekend came again and this time it was off to Michigan for Chad's cousin's wedding. Which is where the camera was lost, so no pics of the wedding. We enjoyed seeing family and got to spend two nights with the Heiden's. We had lots of laughs and enjoyed being able to attend the wedding since we are closer now.

The last full weekend of October was spent hanging out with the Chapman family. They came up to trick or treat with us in the neighborhood. Grandpa and grandma Heff's neighborhood always has an evening trick or treat with a costume contest and other things. Maddie was once again a sausage- it was much more of a hit here, then in Texas. Everyone asked where we got it- it even won her second place in the costume contest. They went home with lots of loot, but Maddie was tried, so she went to bed early.

We have been visiting grandma J often during the day, since we are both home. She enjoys the change of routine and both Emma and Maddie love to play up there. Emma has spent more time up there while I help at Maddie's school. Her favorite thing to do is to make cookies with grandma. She likes to help mix, but really she just likes to be the taste-tester.

Last weekend we went down to Woodstock for Halloween. We went to the square with Ben and Sam for some trick or treating and then Ben and Maddie went to a couple other blocks. Emma and Sam had more fun handing out candy to other kids then actually getting it. Jana and Mike met us back in Milwaukee for the weekend. We had fun just hanging out for the rest of the weekend.

This week Maddie had school on Monday and then on Tuesday we headed up to the Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells. We were up there a day early because we went up with grandma and grandpa J. Chad, uncle Kurt, aunt Lydia came up on Wednesday. For a few days we enjoyed being in the hotel and playing in the indoor waterpark. We did get a few pictures from borrowing my parent's camera.

We got home yesterday and have enjoyed just being home for the last day. Today Maddie had her last day of tumbling and then it was off to watch uncle Kurt's basketball game. After the game we took the girls to see Madagascar 2. The girls enjoyed the movie along with the popcorn and soda. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a resting day and getting laundry done.

So here are a few pics from raking leaves, and the waterpark. Hopefully that has caught some of you up on us and it hopefully it isn't a month before I post again.