Spring has...

A. Sprung
B. is springing
C. is thinking about springing

I would go with answer C. It has been raining for the last two days, so that is a good sign considering that it could be the white stuff falling from the sky.

Spring Break has sprung in our house, which means that it is crazy in here with all the rain going on outside. Yesterday they did get to spend the majority of the day at grandma and grandpa's with Aunt Kendra while I went to work for a few hours. They of course enjoyed every minute of it, even though Maddie wanted nothing to do with it at the beginning of the day.

Tomorrow we are getting a chance to spend an afternoon with friends. Thursday we will be visiting either the Children's Museum or Stonefire Pizza (think an upscale Chuck E Cheese). Friday we are heading to Valparaiso for the National Basketball Tournament. There are about 7 teams we will be looking to watch. Boys and Girls from Trinity Klein, where we were members at in Texas. The boys coach is a friend. The boys and girls from Trinity Cedar Rapids, where Chad went to grade school and where my sister and brother in law go now. Our Redeemer boys and girls, where the girls attend school now. Last but not least the Hales Corners boys team, another school from the area here, a lot of their kids end of going to Martin Luther, so we know some of their families.

Chad started baseball yesterday. If it keeps raining like this, the field will not be dry by next Thursday for the home opener.

The girls are doing great. Maddie is getting so excited for 1st grade. Her reading is coming along really well and I love that she will pick up a book and try to read it. She is also starting to read signs along the highway too. Emma is itching to be in all day school. She is the social butterfly of the family and loves to talk to anyone and everyone.

Along with baseball filling up our spring, we will be heading to Michigan for Easter this year. We are looking forward to seeing friends and family while we are there. Our summer is starting to fill up fast, but it is always fun to have things going on.

Happy Valentine's Day

Nothing too exciting for Valentine's Day here. I worked (only myself and the principal in the office and got more work done then the last few weeks combined), the girls had school, the both had parties in their classrooms, and they even had George Washington come to school yesterday and talk about his life. This week is reading week at school. I am still trying to figure out a storybook character for the girls to dress up as on Thursday.

Here was the Valentine pictures we sent to some people:

Maddie Anne 5 Years 8 Months

Lilly Joy 1 Year 9 Months

Emma Grace 4 Years 7 Months

Here are some other Valentine Day pictures of the girls: (Lilly was not interested in having her picture taken or to have her picture taken with the girls. )

Basketball and Life

Even though the Brewers pitchers and catchers report tomorrow, we are still in basketball mode. Boy are we ever in basketball mode. It all started last Friday, Chad had a game against St. Cate's. They lost to them by 47 the last time they played them, this past week, they only lost by 18, much improvement. So anyways, the girls and I, plus an extra girl (Maddie's friend Mia) set off to ML to watch the freshmen game. Well okay, Lilly and I watched the game while the other girls played under the bleachers, in the bleachers, and in the hall. We were on our way after the freshmen game, Chad always stays for the JV, well he was so lucky that he got to coach the JV. Then he also had to sit on the bench for Varsity and assist. I was only sort of in the loop, but got the full story when he got home. So the short of it is that Chad was the only coach in the boys' program left after the game on Friday. A couple coaches were asked not to come back, the head coach decided to step down feeling responsible for the actions of the assistants that got asked not to come back.

So needless to say last week was left trying to fill in some coaches spots for the last two weeks of the season. So Chad has 3 freshmen games left, 4 varsity regular season games and a sectional game. He is lucky enough to have found three other guys to help him out for the next 3 weeks. A great person/coach to take over the JV and is doing the best job possible, given the situation.

So we are all adjusting here, but I know that he will give it the best shot he can for the 3 weeks. I am assuming that the team won't make it much past the first round of the sectionals considering that the JV and Varsity teams have not won a game yet.

So here's to Chad helping them get their first win of the season.

A Surpirse Trip

The girls and Chad had off for Martin Luther King Day. That weekend was packed with stuff, but it was all a lot of fun and so glad we got to do it all. Thursday started the Our Redeemer tournament, it is both a boys and girls tournament. We went Thursday, because we knew we wouldn't get to go any other time. So Thursday we packed everyone up in the bitter cold and headed to school to watch the OR girls take on the Mount Olive girls (that is my grade school), let's just say that OR pretty much blew them out.

Friday it was off to dad's game and so we had our usual fun Friday at Martin Luther for basketball. Saturday we packed everyone up in the car and headed to River Forest for the girls basketball game. It was alumni day and so I met one of my teammates/roommates and her family for the game. We went out to dinner after and had a really great time. Before the game we made a quick stop at uncle Alan's store to visit and Kate was there, so the girls had a great time for about a half hour in the store. So we headed home from River Forest in time to catch the second half of the Packers/Falcons game.

Sunday we went to church and then headed up to Germantown. There we dropped Lilly off for the day/night. We told the older two that we were going to run some errands and would be back. We started the drive to Lake Geneva, both girls at one point did fall asleep, so that helped. We were headed to the Timber Ridge Lodge and Waterpark.

We had gotten a gift card from the baseball team last year and finally got a chance to use it. They also gave us a bunch of tokens to use in the arcade. The girls had no idea what was going on until I came out of the hotel with the room key. We had such a fun time playing in the water, winning tickets at the arcade, eating dinner in the restaurant, watching some movies, and just hanging out.


So Monday morning we were off to breakfast in Lake Geneva and then back to Germantown to get Lilly. Even though it was a really short trip it was really fun and so nice to have just a short break.

The girls have been busy with school, Chad with basketball, getting ready for baseball, and I am into full force golf outing mode for work. Maddie and I are just about to leave for some time at the YMCA. She gets to go to a 2 hour sports day while I get my workout in.

Maddie had the time of her life last night, when she got to spend the evening (not overnight) at Mia's house while the rest of us went to Chad's game. She was so excited and had such a great time. Those are the things that you just love and remember about how they get excited for such little things.

We have some fun ideas stirring for Valentine's Day, so keep a lookout for those.

Packers or Bears

VS.

That has been the question all week around here. Now here is my take- I could really care less about either. As most of you know I am not that big of a football fan. Now because I live in Wisconsin I am rooting for the Packers. My oldest daughter wanted to know if there were any other teams playing because she didn't want to root for either. She now has realized that there is nobody else is playing, so it would make sense to root for the Packers. It may have also been her father telling her that it is okay to root for them. I think deep down she thinks she is betraying the Lions (who did end the year with a 4 game winning streak). She also knows that the Bears are from Chicago, which is also where the Cubs are from and she figures that since we don't like the Cubs, naturally we shouldn't like the Bears either. Smart girl. So even though I may be one of the few in Wisconsin who won't be glued to the TV the whole game- GO PACK GO!!!

Christmas Time is Here Again and Has Gone Again

The tree(s) are trimmed. Yes that is right, trees. Emma has her tree and Maddie has her tree. Lilly doesn't have one yet, but give her a couple years.

The stockings are hung, two out of three ain't bad. That is what happens when great grandma Janetzke doesn't crochet anymore. Lilly is missing her stocking, but don't worry grandma J is working on one.

The presents are bought, well all but one. This weekend we have to get Maddie's teacher's present, but that is an easy one.

Most of the presents are wrapped.

Cookies are being made tomorrow that was back on the 18th of December, some were made last week at aunt Susie's house, but those already have been eaten.

You know as well as I do, that this list could go on and on. I know that stress levels are high this time of year, mine included. But I love the excitement of everything;

Well now as I continue this post, the presents have been opened, fancy dresses have been worn, pictures have been taken, cousins have been played with, swimming at the waterpark has been done, and now all the cousins, except one (Nolan) have gone home. It has been so much fun spending time in Germantown with the whole Janetzke clan and the whole Heffelfinger clan at the indoor waterpark for Christmas day. We will start with the pictures.

Here are all the Heffelfinger cousins, minus Sam(he didn't want his picture taken) and plus one Rosie who is my cousin's daughter. That makes her the girls' second cousin.

Christmas Eve at Trinity Freisdadt.

The whole Janetzke Family. There are 17 of us, the Heffelfingers actually have them beat by one. I'm sure that will change since only 3 out of 7 are married on the Janetzke side and on my side everyone is married.


The 5 of us on Christmas Eve. We had to bribe Maddie with cookies when we got home so she would sit through all the pictures. Little did she know that we would have let her have some anyways.


Here are the girls on Christmas morning at Mount Olive. Lilly was being a ham the whole time and wouldn't leave the front of church until we took a picture of just her. I would say she is taking a little after Maddie in that department.

The girls have done great with all the different places and people. Emma did end up getting a little sick the day after Christmas, but I think she just had a little bit too much Christmas. She was so exhausted that I think her body was just done.

Now we are looking forward to spending New Year's Eve in Iowa at Jana and Mike's house. We will be heading there on Wednesday and enjoying some hanging out.

So we are now back into the swing of things with school. We spent a fun 4 days in Iowa. We went sledding before all the snow melted. Built a snowman. Set up the basement in full theater mode. Went to the Playstation (big indoor playground) for their Noon Year's Eve Bash (they had a balloon drop and celebrated New Year's at noon on Friday since their patrons are mostly under the age of 10. Maddie made it to see the ball drop, well she her eyes were open if she was actually awake is still being decided. We spent most of New Year's day at the Jonasson's house. We got to hang out with the 5 of them and had a great time. Maddie got a chance to play the Kinectimals on XBox Kinect. She is hooked. I already told her we aren't getting one. We had a Wii bowling tournament and did watch some football in there. To end the weekend Chad and Mike watched the Vikings/Lions game. It was a great weekend and we thank the Pownell's for inviting us and having us. It was a lot of fun.

It was back to the grind for everyone yesterday. Chad to school. Lilly by aunt Kendra, the girls to school/daycare, and me to work. We all got to all of the above on time and even with some time to spare. Our Redeemer called about 1:30 to let me know that Maddie wasn't feeling well, so it was a short day at work and off to get the girls and have them come home and rest. She did stay home again today, because she had a little fever, but I think she will be as good as new tomorrow. They have enjoyed playing with all their toys and we are still opening some from Christmas.

This morning Maddie and Lilly ran some errands with me. One of our stops was Target. Maddie has had this $10 from Christmas burning a hole in her pocket. So being the oldest and just like her dad, it took us about 25 minutes to decide on something. She ended up with the most perfect thing. She spotted a webkinz. It was an Okapi. Now if you know anything about Maddie and her Okapis it was perfect. An Okapi is an animal that is part of the giraffe family. It was her favorite at the Houston Zoo. She always loved to go and look at it and see it every time we went. Now the funny thing about this animal is a little fact about it and that is that it can lick it's own eyeballs and since the first time we told her that she has thought that was the funniest thing and has been hooked. So all you Houston friends next time you are at the zoo, check out the Okapi.

As you can see our lives are never dull or lack anything exciting. I hope that you all had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Figuring It Out

What is the it?? Now I have to tell you that we don't ever really tell our girls that there is a Santa. We just kind of let them believe what they think it is all about. Christmas presents are always from mom and dad, so we just let them make their own conclusions. Now Maddie knows that the Santa in the mall is just a guy dressed up. She isn't sure why there are guys dressed up, but she knows he is in costume. So on Sunday night, St. Nick came to the house. He filled Maddie and Emma's stockings with some goodies. Nothing big you know: a coloring book, a new toothbrush, some m&m's, and a little toy. Maddie was so excited and so was Emma. You could tell Emma was really thinking about this all hard. She was trying to put 2 and 2 together, but wasn't quite sure about it. So she went to school and daycare and on the way to pick up Lilly from Germantown and this is how the conversation went.

E: Mom, did you or St. Nick put those things in my stocking
Me: (again not telling her that there is not or there is a St. Nick) Well who do you think put those things in your stocking?
E: Welll I think that St. Nick did, but those are all things that you know that I wanted.

I have this feeling that she is putting it all together and is going to figure it all out. Now as long as she doesn't take the approach that one of the boys in 1st grade does and goes around telling all the kids that there is no Santa.

She also has been with me in a store where I have gotten a few of Lilly's or Maddie's toys. I have a feeling that all this information is being stored and when those toys are open on Christmas a lightbulb is going to go off. Now I know that it isn't a big deal, but it is just that innocence of a child who just lights up when they open that present. Emma is kind of like a closet smarty pants. She is our bubbly, twirling in circle kind of girl; but if something doesn't make sense logically, she will call you out on it and want to know how it really works. I will have to keep you updated on how all of that goes.

On a side note of the innocence of a child: last night the girls had their Christmas program at church. It is the 4K-2nd grade. So right away you know that it is going to be loud and all those kids are going to just sing their heart out even if they are off key. Now if any of you know Maddie, she is a performer. She loves to sing and dance. She wears her headphones with her MP3 player around the house. So when I dropped her off in her room- she told me that tonight she was going to be a rockstar. And boy was she ever. She had the hand motions for every song, she was belting it out like she was on American Idol. Let's just say that I had more then one comment from other parents about her performance. I love that she was having just the best time, but we all couldn't help but laugh at her. We love her for her enthusiasm.

Giving Thanks and Snow Flurries

So as always around Thanksgiving, everyone wants to know what you are thankful for. I know we all are thankful for food, shelter, family, and friends, but I wanted to point out a few particulars when it comes to those three crazy girls we call daughters.

MADELINE

She is quite the 5 year old. She loves music and anything that has to do with music. Just yesterday we went to the library and got 7 cds to put onto her mp3 player. Since those songs have been on, I don't think she has taken her headphones off. She is always moving, running, jumping, playing some sort of ball. She loves to be wherever her dad is, and do whatever dad is doing. She is also a big help around the house, she usually does what is asked; even if that means going to get a diaper for Lilly or picking up toys she didn't play with. She will try anything and everything, especially when it comes to fun things, but also at the dinner table. She loves school more then anything and loves to write and make up stories. She is a unique little girl and I can't wait to see where her next adventure takes her.


(both of the pictures of Maddie are from Monkey Joe's at the beginning of November, as you can see the daredevil in her- going down head first)


EMMA
She is our social butterfly, loves to talk to everyone and anyone (we have to watch that sometimes). That being said, she is quite the homebody. She is most happy at home playing with her barbies, polly pockets, or just coloring (you also have to watch that, because she will color on anything). She is definetly the mothering type, she loves her baby dolls, helping Lilly, and being the little mother hen for Lilly and Nolan when everyone is together. She also loves school. She is smarter then she leads on, example she knows what a letter is but will always ask you just to have that interaction with you and make sure she is right. She is a whiz at puzzles. She will walk past the puzzle grandma J is doing, pick up a piece, look at it, and put it in it's correct place. She doesn't like to take as many risks as her sister and she is okay with that. She stays in her comfort zone of peanut butter sandwiches and go-gurts. She is a chocolate milk- aholic. She loves her princesses and playing dress-up, she also never passes up a chance to have her hair or nails done.

Riding a little ride at Mall of America

One of the last Brewers game we went to this fall

LILLY
Oh boy, does this one have her own personality. She wants no one to help her and that includes her sisters. Some days she reminds me of Maddie as she is climbing the chairs and sits in the middle of the dining room table. Other times she is like Emma as she can just sit and play with her bebe (think of it in French) that is what she calls a baby. She is a ham and loves to do her "tricks". She loves the bath, but hates the sprinkler. She loves Mo-Mo (Elmo). She can look at 100 books a day, she also expects you to read that many to her. Lilly is a bruiser, she loves to wrestle anyone who is laying on the floor. She loves to laugh and thinks that the world is her audience. She also loves music and loves to dance. She can't go to bed before giving everyone a kiss goodnight- it doesn't matter who is there, she has to give one to everyone. She loves her donkey (Army Mule) and takes him everywhere. Let's just say he is getting his share of time in the washer. She loves to go to the YMCA daycare and play with the kids there. She also loves to wave good bye to everyone, no matter where we are. She is a girl who is just trying to be her own person and I will be interested to see how her sisters pull her in their directions.

Lilly at Monkey Joe's she was trying so hard to get up the wall to slide, but she just wasn't quite big enough, which of course ticked her off.

Here is that ham- in the tub with the swimming dog's goggles on. Now every time she is in the tub she has to put them on.

In the quote of Emma- "It is going to be a great day, because there is snow falling"

That is what she said to me today when I picked her up from school. What she doesn't realize is that all it is is a dusting. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure we will get our fair share, it was just to cute that she was excited for the first snow. It took until December for that to happen, so we are just hoping that winter doesn't last until May around here.

The girls got to watch their first Christmas Special last night- it was the cartoon version of How a Grinch Stole Christmas. They get that love of Christmas specials from their dad. Good thing we have DVR now because with basketball he misses a lot of them, so now I am able to record them and they can all watch them later. The girls get so excited about all the classics; Rudolph, Santa Claus is coming to town, Frosty. Now they like the new ones too, but I think they just love the classics because dad gets to into them too.

The older girls are in their Christmas program next week, they cannot wait to sing for everyone and Emma is so looking forward to wearing her sparkly Christmas dress. This girl loves anything that sparkles and shines. I will make sure to put some pictures up of that night.

So as December starts and we all know how crazy it can get; baking cookies, buying presents, wrapping presents, seeing friends and family, let's make sure we always take time to remember that little baby that came to us that first Christmas as the best present anyone has ever received.

Where have we been?? You got me....

That's right, it is basketball season. Practice started on Monday- Chad, as of right now, is coaching the freshmen team. We are waiting to see if there are enough guys to make up three teams. The head coach is a little unorganized, okay that is an understatement. He is so disorganized, that it even bothers Chad, that may be a first.
For all of those who don't know, I work part-time at Lutheran Special School and Education Services. I work a full day on Mondays and so Lilly usually goes up to Germantown. Aunt Kendra doesn't have school on Mondays, so she usually is the one babysitting. Then she comes home with us and the girls and I take her to school on Tuesday mornings. So Monday night, I took the plunge and chopped my hair, and I mean chopped. There was a lot of hair on the floor when it was all said and done. Emma also got a trim. Now her bangs are almost as long as all the rest of her hair.



I am still getting used to the short hair, but with is all said and done I really like it. All the moms on Tuesday couldn't believe I chopped so much off. We went to the movies on Tuesday night (my moms group) and one of them didn't even know it was me for a moment.

Do you ever have one of those days where you wonder where is all come from, meaning your strength to just be able to get through the day? Yesterday was one of those days. I was so tired, but Lilly and I still went to the YMCA like we do every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday while Emma is at school. On Wednesdays the three of us (minus Maddie) go to school and eat lunch with Chad. So that is always a process in itself to get them and our lunches upstairs with no one falling or running into any high schoolers. Also, we deal with every Wednesday Lilly crying when we walk into Chad's room because Alex, his teacher aide is always right there. It is so funny because by the time he leaves for lunch after we have been there for 25 minutes, she is usually throwing him kisses. So Lilly normally falls asleep on the way home so then I have the task of trying to get her into her bed without her wanting to stay awake. So yesterday it was all good, got her in bed and so Emma and I were hanging out and I could not keep my eyes open it was like I hadn't slept the previous night. Emma was great about playing with her polly pockets and Barbies while I closed my eyes for a little while. Then we got the dreaded phone call that a mom hates, from Maddie's school telling me she is in the nurse's office because she isn't feeling well. So we get in the car to get her, she hasn't thrown up yet, she is the 5th kid down that day. We are getting her backpack to leave and she makes it to the bathroom just in time to lose her lunch. We get home, she gets situated on the couch and after some resting is looking a little better. The poor girl is hungry, so we had a little gatorade to make sure it would stay down. A little while later we move on to the yogurt, that wasn't as successful. Of course, this time she didn't make it to the bathroom in time. It just wears me out thinking about it all. I guess that is why I was sleeping by 9pm last night.

She is good today, a 24 hour thing. She stayed home just to keep those germs away from school. These are the days when I remember why I send her to full day kindergarten.

Here are a few pictures of the girls from the fall. Here are Maddie and Emma hanging in the leaves. They even helped rake them into a pile, so they could jump in them. The funny thing is, that both the girls are still wearing shorts in the picture. We have had a few days of needing our winter coats before this week, but really this past week we put away the fall coats and brought out the winter ones. I would say that is pretty good, it being November 18th and all.

Same day as the one above. Lilly was a little less interested in jumping in the leaves, but did like being able to throw them up and watch them fall.

We went to Minnesota on a weekend in September. We went on Friday after school. Here is Lilly with her Army Mule that she carries around everywhere. We like to take pictures of her and "donkey" and send them to Michael to show him where her and "donkey" have been.

Jay thought the girls needed some facepaint. If this isn't a perfect characterization of our children, Emma the Butterfly and Maddie as Spiderman. This is that weekend in Minnesota. Saturday we spent the whole day with Jill and Jay. We went to this awesome hole in the wall (aka bar) for burgers. We did some hanging out at the MOA. Emma was in heaven in the American Girl store, Maddie tried her hand at a bunch of rides at the Nickelodeon "theme park". Sunday while Chad went to the Vikings/Lions game with Mike, we took Nolan with us the Minnesota Zoo. We had fun walking around and seeing all the animals. I think we did a pretty good job at tiring the girls out too.

This is the neighborhood trick or treat. This was on Saturday night. The two werewolves are Ben and Sam, along with Wonderwoman, and a Bride. We decorated the house as Monsters, Inc. Everyone thought is was great. We also had the projector playing the movie the whole night too. Lilly was a little glittery fairy, but refused to be in the picture. She is quite the little stinker. She sure has a mind of her own and no one is going to change it for her.

Maddie spent Thursday at home with Lilly and grandma. She was her "normal" self by Thursday morning, but we didn't want to give the 5K any more germs. So Friday we were back our normal routine. We spent a little time at the mall on Friday after school, because we got to see Phineas and Ferb. Emma wanted nothing to do with them, but Maddie was up there dancing and trying to win prizes. She didn't win anything, but she did get her picture taken with them.

So there is where we have been. Look for more frequent updates on our lives. We are busy, but I know that some of you like to see pictures of the girls, that are more recent then 6 months ago. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Be thankful for all you are given and make sure you let those around you know how thankful you are for them.

My New Resolution

I know that it is not New Year's, but I am making a resolution for myself. I am going to blog at least once a week. I figure that if I write a little each day or each couple of days and then on the weekends I will post it. I have updated the look of my blog and now I am going to keep it updated, so look for a new post this week.

Here are all the Pictures

JUNE?? What happened to May?

Okay so here is what we have been up to since my last post.

• Lilly's had her first Birthday party- her godfather (Michael) surprised us by attending the party. He came all the way from Westpoint to be with us. That was awesome.
• For Mother's Day Chad and the girls got me an iPod Touch ( i love it) the girls love that I put some cartoons on there for them
• We celebrated Kurt's confirmation on May 16th. Chad got confirmed in 1993 and Kurt, the last one, 17 years later.
• Same day we had a wedding shower for Ben and Christina
  
• Of course during all this we are still playing baseball games about three times a week
• On Monday the 17th, I had the Lutheran Special School Golf outing, I was in charge of the silent and live auction part of it. The auction raised $31,000. Not too bad for my first one.
  
• May 19th we take Maddie to the ENT, she is having her Tonsils and Adenoids taken out and tubes put in on June 29th
• The weekend of the 21st-23rd we enjoy our last free weekend until August 6th. We played at 5 playgrounds, saw a movie (Shrek 4), and just hung out, the 5 of us.
• Found out that Chad got a bye as a #2 seed for the first round of baseball playoffs.
• Friday the 28th Dina and I headed to Michigan for Anne's wedding shower. Once we got out of Chicago it was smooth sailing.
  
• That same night had dinner with an old college friend who lives in the same area we were going to
• Saturday the 29th, had a great wedding shower for Anne, got to hang out with the girls who were there in the evening. Laughed pretty hard that night at just about anything. Chad had extra help with the girls because Jill and Jay came to visit.
  
• Sunday Lydia graduated from Living Word High School. Made it back from Michigan with just enough time to change and get to the ceremony. Got to play some cards with Jill and Jay
• Monday took the girls to Stone Fire Pizza, it was a perfect day to take them and everyone had a great time. Had to say goodbye to Jill and Jay (don't worry they came back last weekend)
• Tuesday we watched some Spartan baseball pull off a 7th inning, 2 out, suicide squeeze win.
• Wednesday got to watch Spartan baseball (with no kids) win the Regional Championship in 9 innings 3-2.
• Wednesday was also the last day of school for Maddie and Emma. I was Maddie's helper.
• Friday the 4th, Kurt graduated from Trinity. Chad started 4K (at a different Trinity)way back in 1984 and this time 26 years later the last one graduated.
• Saturday was Maddie's golden birthday. It was also Martin Luther graduation. We had some cake and beer with family that night.
  
• Tuesday was to be Sectionals for Spartan Baseball, but they got rained out.
• Wednesday the girls, myself, and Kurt drove to Oakfield Wisconsin to watch some Spartan Baseball.
  
• Spartan Baseball won their first round of sectionals 12-4 against Palmyra/Eagle.
• Spartan Baseball was in the Elite Eight for State, but ended up losing a nail biter in the bottom of the 7th to Winnebago Lutheran (those darn WELS).
  
• Friday the 11th Maddie had her birthday party- 13 5 year olds running around Mt.Olive's gym and then watching a "drive-in" movie. She had a blast and I'm pretty sure so did everyone else.
  
• Saturday Jill and Jay came back- They again helped Chad as I attended Christina's Bachelorette party.
  
• Sunday Jill and I got to shop the outlet mall while Chad and Jay did a little golfing. We met the boys in Madision- the Olsons headed back to Minnesota and Chad and I got to spend the night in Madison.
  
• Monday we walked State Street and UW campus in the rain, but had an awesome time.
  
• Tuesday- back to reality.
  
• Now that we are all caught up, not pics yet, but I am trying. This weekend is the baseball banquet and Father's Day (Chad got an iTouch too- don't worry he already has it)
• Next week is VBS at MO and getting ready for uncle Ben's big day.

Going to try to post a few pics from each of the events that have taken place. Here's to catching up and trying to keep up. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far- I can't believe that it is already the middle of June. Yikes, where is the summer going?

Lilly is 1

HAPPY 1st Birthday Lilly!!!
Here are just a few pictures from last Sunday at Miller Park for her 1 year pictures.

Easter 2010

So I am almost caught up. We are all the way up to Easter. We came back from spring break and had a short week with Good Friday off. Chad officially started baseball on that Monday. He had great weather until Saturday when he was suppose to have a game. Thursday night also started Ben-A-Polooza (Ben's Bachelor Party). You might be wondering why so early, well the Tigers were in town for exhibition game on Friday and Saturday and so of course they were there on Friday. So Thursday they hung out up in Germantown, Friday we went to church and then the boys all went to the game. Saturday Chad went to school for his game, but the field was too wet, so we met him and went out to Oconomowoc for the JV game.

Easter morning came, Maddie had asked me earlier in the week about the Easter bunny. We were at the mall and she looked at me and her exact words were "So mom, that easter bunny is he for real or just a guy dressed up in a costume?" What a smart little girl. They did get easter baskets, but Maddie knew that the Easter bunny didn't really leave them. We went to church at Mount Olive, had a little Easter Breakfast and then headed up to Germantown where everyone was for the day. We had the egg cracking contest, which uncle Ben beat Emma in the championship. We played some dominos, laughed, talked, you know all the normal stuff.

Easter Monday Chad and that girls had off. He was on dad duty while Amy and I went to Opening Day. We had a beautiful day. The rest of the week while Chad was suppose to be having games, not so much.

We are in full swing of baseball. Games a few nights a week, practice and the like. The Lutheran Special School Golf Outing is May 17th and so that is what I am working on. We are keeping ourselves busy, enjoying the nice weather (for now at least) and can hardly believe that there are only 33 days left of school for Maddie and Emma.

Texas Spring Break

Spring Break 2010 was spent back in Texas. Chad took 20 of his baseball players along with 21 from Lake County Lutheran and we thought we would make a trip of it too. No, we didn't ride the bus. The girls, myself, and (almost) aunt Christina drove down and back. We left on St. Patrick's day and headed to Anamosa to spend the night at Mike and Jana's. From Anamosa we went to Norman Oklahoma (just south of Oklahoma City), spent the night in a hotel and then headed into Spring Texas. We got to the Wilke homestead on Friday and spent the next 4 days there. The bus with the baseball team arrived on Saturday and so between hanging with them and seeing everyone down there, we enjoyed the sunshine, the laughter, the shopping, and the playing with everyone. Lilly got to meet her godfather, Michael, for the first time. He was at the end of his srping break. We got to hang out at the Pier, the old sanctuary at Trinity Klein, that they turned into the youth buliding. The team went to the A & M game on Sunday, we stayed home and walked Sam the dog, played at the playground and watche NCAA basketball. Monday we got the chance to go up to Concordia and see teachers and staff up there. Christina and I did some shopping that day and then spent some of the evening hanging at the retreat center. Tuesday we had a playdate with the Keipers, we played at the park for a few hours and then at their house for lunch and after. Lilly and Raegan got to play, more like Lilly poked at Raegan. Tuesday night we got the chance to watch the Crusader baseball game and then we were off to home on Wednesday. We drove two days on the way home. The girls did great in the car. Again that was Lilly's first long trip and she would just nap, look out the window, talk to herself. We had a great time and can't wait to go again next year. Well that is what Chad is telling me.

Way Back to Florida

So like two months ago, Lilly and I got the chance to visit Anne and Fritz in Florida. We left Ash Wednesday and returned home the following Tuesday morning. We had a blast just relaxing, hanging with them, and enjoying the warm weather. That was Lilly's first time flying. Can you believe that she was 9 months old, I think both girls were somewhere between 3 and 4. That is what happens when you know live close to everyone. She did great. We left in the evening on Wednesday and she just took her bottle and then slept most of the time. There was a guy sitting across from us who was thinking "great I get to sit by a baby", but after the flight he even said how amazed at how good she was. Anne and I got to do a lot of talking and she got to hang out with her goddaughter. They had a few cold ones together. No, we didn't do any tourist things and I was okay with that. I didn't think Lilly needed to go to Disney, since she wouldn't remember it anyways. The girls did great being home with grandma, grandpa, and daddy. Chad still had a couple basketball games and actually the girls got to go to Iowa with grandma and grandpa over the weekend to help the Pownell's finish moving in. I needed about 3 days when we got back to recover from being gone, but it was worth it.

Groupon

Okay so I got this from Jamie's blog. If you are looking for deal for things to do in your city, check out groupon. Each day there is a new deal for you. So many people have to join in order for that deal to happen. If you follow the link below I will get groupon bucks to use to buy these awesome deals. Happy deal hunting.

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu1256123

P.S. I promise I will have a real update about the Janetzke clan one of these days. I have about 80 pics to download from the camera to then blog about.