Four-Wheelers, Waco, A New Bike and Badminton

THE FOUR WHEELER



















So here is Maddie and "uncle" Phill on the four-wheeler at school. Friday and Saturday was a baseball tournament at school. They played their games on Friday and we were even home before 10pm. So Saturday morning we awoke to a steady rain and headed to school to check on the field. We got there and the field was doing pretty good. Chad, Phill, and Steve started to rake and turn over the dry dirt from underneath and that is when the big guy upstairs thought it would be funny to just let it down pour. It continued to pour on and off for awhile and so Chad decided to call the tournament for Saturday. While waiting to see what they were going to do, Maddie got to take a ride on the four-wheeler around the baseball field. I think she had more fun just sitting on it and listening to the engine rev. So with the baseball tournament canceled it was off to...

WACO
I don't have any pictures from Waco. Even if I would have taken any, the camera would have probably blown out of my hands. We (Chad, me, the girls, and Steve) headed up to Waco to watch the boys soccer team in the state championship. The game was at 1:30, so we had to quickly get ourselves together and get ready to leave. We were on the road by 9:50, which was pretty good. The drive to Waco is about 3 hours. We grabbed lunch on the way, got to Baylor and got to the soccer field- it was the wrong one. Luckily the one we needed to be at was just a couple of blocks away. So we piled back into the car and got to the game as the National Anthem was ending. It was really windy. There were even a few times that Isaac and Maddie got blown over. So we spent the first half playing ball with Isaac. The soccer team ended up losing 4-0. The refs were consistent in their calls, mostly bad, but at least they were consistent. I don't think that the other team was a 4-0 better team than us, but it was fun anyways. We then got back into the car where both Maddie and Emma soon fell asleep. We got home, Steve stayed for dinner, watched the MSU game and then played some Phase 10.

A NEW BIKE
After church on Sunday we came home and cleaned up the backyard. I had been pulling bushes and such all last week. The most being the 7, yes 7, rose bushes I had to clip and dig up. So then after that we went to the mall to try to find some shoes for Maddie, no luck. We headed home- the girls of course fell asleep, so we stopped at Sonic for a Cherry Limeade. When we got home Chad got to put together his first bike. (note- see Chad's blog about it) So after Emma ate her dinner we all went outside in the driveway and Maddie got to test out her new bike. We ended up taking out every ball in the garage, the wagon, and anything else Maddie could find. Emma just sat and watched as Maddie was doing this all. I swear she was taking mental notes on how to make a complete mess of everything. We also have a driveway "net", if you call a volleyball net that. So one of the things she took out was the volleyball/badminton set we received as a wedding present.

BADMINTON

Maddie just thought everything about badminton was just so funny. She would laugh every time the shuttlecock would fly in the air. She would laugh whenever she would try to hit it and miss. She would laugh when it would fall off her racket after one of us put it on. She was just having a fun time out there. It was a lot of fun to watch her.

Then we started to play a game actually over the net and she couldn't decide what team she wanted to be on. She kept switching sides. She was trying to get the hang of it and was having fun at the same time.



















Meanwhile, Emma just took the opportunity to crawl all around. She decided to try to see what leaves taste like. I don't think she enjoyed them too much. She was giggling right along with Maddie when Maddie would start giggling.

So all in all, we had a really fun weekend, with some really nice weather. I heard that there was snow up in Milwaukee and other areas of the Midwest. It would have been just as fun if we could have gone sledding. But we wouldn't have gotten any of our yard work done.

Here are just a few pictures of the girls from this week. The one of Emma is her pulling herself up. She has gotten up to her feet a few times, but that is a whole lot harder than just going to her knees. The first one of Maddie is with her first haircut. I had to cut her bangs since they were hanging in her eyes. Now she actually looks like a little person. She now has a hairstyle and her curls are back after taking a leave of absence while we were in Wisconsin. The bottom one of Maddie is at Chad's game last Saturday. She decided that she wanted to bat. This was after the game was over and she was going around picking up equipment and putting it on.

This week has been so nice out. Right now it is 80 degrees outside. The sun is totally out too. So that means that we have gotten outside everyday this week. I have even got some yard work done in the back too. Chad had a game last night. That's all I'll say about it. We didn't go, but I got the run down this morning before he left for school. This weekend is the Concordia Tournament. Each year it seems to get rained out on Saturday, so we will see if that is a trend that continues. There is only about a 30% chance of rain for Saturday. It is suppose to stay in the 70's for awhile. I have a feeling that our cold weather is behind us.

We have a couple of weeks until Spring Break. Since Jana and Mike aren't able to come down now, it looks like we will just be hanging out at home. Maybe that will give us a chance to get some things done around the house, especially the yard.

Now that baseball is here, it makes my life seem so boring. We spend a lot of time at home just playing. We have been going to the park more now that it is warmer and Maddie seems to love the swings even more than before. Maddie also loves to take off her clothes. It will be no more than about a half hour before she is pantless. She usually keeps her shirt on, but I think that is because it usually gets stuck on her head when she tries to take it off. She can put her pants back on all by herself, but prefers to keep them off. She will still be out daredevil and risk taker. You can already tell that between the two of them. We are hoping that Emma is getting another tooth, otherwise there needs to be an explanation of all the extra drool and crabbiness.

Doubleheader Today

That's right, not only is it the first game, but it is a doubleheader. The JV game is actually going on now and the varsity is playing two up in The Woodlands at 1 and 3. I am thinking that we will head up for the 3pm game. I figure if we leave at 3, that will be good. Nothing too exciting has gone on this week. Just a pretty plain week here. It has been cool, but is suppose to start warming up. I think that by the middle of next week we are suppose to be in the 70's. Emma and Maddie are doing great. Emma is crawling all over the place. She has figured out that she can do laps through the kitchen. She is getting a little more adventurous. She is pulling herself up to her knees and with help from someone to her feet. She is also starting to follow you around. When I go to change Maddie's diaper and come out of the room, Emma is usually in the hall waiting for us.

Maddie is starting to realize that Emma isn't breakable. They are starting to "play" together. Usually it is Emma trying to crawl on Maddie or take her nuk. Maddie is getting the hang of her sit and spin (thanks uncle Joel and Aunt Amy). She loves the music it makes. She still will use her foot to get herself going, but then can use her hands to keep her spinning.

With us, it is nothing too new. Baseball is taking up most of the time around here. We will have tournaments or games on Saturdays for the next three weekends. At least after that there are no more Saturday games, just the three each week. Chad was suppose to have off of school on Monday, but when the freezing weather hit and they had off for two days they need to make one of those days up. I have been doing some spring cleaning around here. I have been going through closets and drawers trying to get rid of stuff we don't use. I have a felling that our garage is going to become our storage area sooner than Chad would like. That is the update from here. We have visitors coming in three weeks- I'm hoping that it will be warm then and we can spend a lot of time outside.

Happy Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY





Maddie wasn't into smiling for the camera that day





















Here are the girls in their opposite form, usually Emma is the serious one













Emma wasn't sure what was going on, but did enjoy having her picture taken




















I caught this one as they were both rolling away, it is one of my favorite of the two of them













I thought I would just throw this one in for confusion, here is Maddie's valentine from last year. It is amazing at how much they look alike.

Happy Birthday Ben

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Ben during the last 3 years. Of course there are a ton more, but I could fill up my whole blog with them all. We miss you lots and hope you have a great 3rd birthday. We love you.
















upper left: here is Ben about 2 months old
upper right: Ben is taking in the Brewers/Twins game up in Minnesota
left: in grandma and grandpa's backyard




























upper left: Ben in the bathtub(you always have to have a tub picture)
upper right: eating at grandma and grandpa's
left: just Ben in his room

Just the 4 of us

We have made it out of the cold and back to Texas. We flew home on Saturday from Chicago. The flight was pretty uneventful. Maddie never slept, but she watched Nemo the whole way. Emma fell asleep for a bit, but then just wanted to be up and seeing what was going on. We also hit a little turbulence and so the pilot lowered the plane a little bit and was hoverign in that area where your ears can't pop. I think that Emma's ears were bothering her and so while we were avoiding turbulence it was making her ears worse. We then headed home and both the girls fell asleep. We picked up some dinner and went home. I was surprised that Maddie didn't have to take every toy out. Yesterday was church and grocery shopping.

To round out the rest of the week we were in Wisconsin, we went to my cousin Alex's basketball game, she was carrying on the Heffelfinger tradition and fouled out. We went to Southridge with Katie and then I got to go to eat with just her (grandma and grandpa took the girls). We went to uncle Kurt's tournament game, it was a very exciting game. They lost in overtime. We got to hang out with cousin Luke on Friday. Aunt Kathy made these cool shirts for the girls and Luke to wear to Kurt's game. Then before we left on Saturday we went to Chicago and got to play with Kate, Ella, Ben and Sam. Chad met us at the end of the security and when I saw him, I let Maddie get out of the stroller and she just ran and ran with her arms out to go get him. All the TSA people were oohing and ahhing. It was very cute. Chad said that at least he knew that one of his daughters missed him.

Not too much going on this week. Chad has his first game on Saturday. It is also a doubleheader. Depending on the weather, maybe we will go for the second game. We have about a month before any visitors are coming. The Dallas crowd is coming on March 10th for the weekend. Jana and Mike are also coming in on the 10th, later in the evening and then staying until the 14th. That is also Chad's spring break, so I'm sure he is looking forward to some playstation with Mike.

Happy 3rd Birthday to Ben tomorrow!!

A Day In Woodstock

Well we are still surviving the cold weather. There was no school for everyone around here again. At least tomorrow the high is suppose to be 12 degrees. Yesterday we headed to Woodstock to play with Ben and Sam. The boys were watching out the window waiting for us. Ben was so excited for Maddie to be there, he had made her a present. They played and played and played some more. It looked like a tornado went through the house, but we did manage to get things picked up. We had fun and I was glad we got the chance to see them. Ben didn't want Maddie to leave. He didn't even want to give a hug to her- it was cute. I told Ben that next time we see him, he would be at our house in Texas. Sam was very into Emma. He tried giving her kisses all afternoon. We ate dinner with them and then headed home. Grandma had to be at the sleep center for some research. Today we are playing inside again. It is a shame the the snow is going to waste.

Other news: Emma has a tooth coming in. Maddie waited 14 months and now Emma is half that time. It is kind of funny because Maddie has another tooth coming in too. She is up to 6.

Have a great rest of the week. I'm not sure if I'll post again before we leave. For sure when we get home I will.

What Was I Thinking??

I am in the arctic north, called Wisconsin, where it is -10 degrees and -30 with the wind chill, while Chad is at home in the warm 65 degree weather. We are talking a 75 degree difference. What in the world was I thinking? Besides the cold weathers, we are having lots of fun. It is just to bad that it is cold because there actually is snow, but it is to cold to let Maddie go play in it. We got in last Thursday, it was a pretty uneventful flight. Both Maddie and Emma slept for about 1/3 of it, right in the beginning too, so that helped. Friday we were suppose to all go down to Chicago, but with the wind chill and weather, the girls stayed with grandma and grandpa here and I went by myself. I had an awesome dinner at Flat Top Grill with Renee and then got to meet up with Anne and throw some darts with her. It was so much fun. Saturday morning grandma and grandpa brought the girls down and we played for a little while with Kate and Ella. Then we headed over to River Forest for the alumni game. There were 8 of us oldies and then some girls who still go to school there, but aren't on the team, for various reasons. We were having just a good old time, but the other team was taking it a little too serious. The girls left after the game and I stayed to watch the RF girls, just wipe the floor with Maranatha Bible College. Sunday was church and then we headed up to the Janetzke's. We just hung out and Maddie played with the dog and cats, I think she even fed the fish. Josh and I made a trip to Wal-Mart. We "watched" the Superbowl. Most of their house was rooting for the Colts, I was hoping the Bears won, but we know how that ended. Today we are heading down to Woodstock to play with Ben and Sam. Grandma is working until 11 and then we are leaving when she gets home. The rest of the week looks pretty low key. There are a couple a basketball games that we might catch. One of my cousin's plays on Wednesday, another on Thursday and then Kurt plays on Friday. Hopefully the games won't be canceled because of the cold.

I am hoping that the warm weather is still at home when we get back on Saturday. When we get back baseball starts full swing with games and practices. It sounds like Chad has been surviving without me- he did have a few people over last night for the game and he even told me he was doing a load of laundry. He says that at least now he knows what he isn't missing being a bachelor. Haha. We have a few pictures so far, but maybe after we play today I'll post some of those. Have a great, warm week.

Leaving on a jet plane

Well we leave tomorrow for the bitterly cold. We were suppose to be spending Friday afternoon in downtown Chicago, but grandma thought it would be better to not have the girls outside then. I guess it is suppose to be even colder than they thought. We are packed for the most part- there will be a few things that will need to be put in our bags in the morning. The bathrooms and kitchen has been cleaned, the laundry has been done and so has the vacuuming. I figure this way when Chad has people over for the Superbowl, it will be semi-clean.

The last few days have just flown by. Grandma and grandpa got in on Friday, they were about an hour late. I got to go and pick them up. I actually went and ran some errands before they came in. Saturday morning we took in the Children's Museum. It was fun. Maddie had too much to look at that I think she was a little overwhelmed. We then headed out to Katy Mills for the afternoon. We got some stuff at Steve and Barry's and Maddie got new Vans. She got another pair that will be her next size, because they were on sale for 10 dollars. Home it was. Grandma and I went grocery shopping while the girls napped. Saturday night we played Phase 10. Sunday was church. Grandpa and Chad went up to school to check the wetness of the field. Again while the girls napped grandma and I headed out. We hit the 75% off bookstore. We found some good deals. Then we relaxed with some Strabucks. Then it was CiCi's for dinner. Grandma has never been there and since that is our pizza place, she thought she should go. Then we played another hand of Phase 10 that night. Monday was back to work for Chad and we went to breakfast, hit the mall, and then took them to the airport.

The last couple of days have been us getting ready to come home. I hope that we all have enough warm clothes for the trip.

I'll try to post while I'm in Wisconsin, otherwise I'll make sure I do when we get back.

Vistors here in time for the sunshine

That's right, even though I will be going to Wisconsin in one week, grandma and grandpa Heff are coming here tonight. Grandma has a little bit of cabin fever, so she needed to get away. She figured it was either here or Florida and since we are here, she decided on here. Grandpa wasn't going to come, but he decided that he did want to come. It had been raining all week until yesterday, so they will at least get to see some sun and 60 degree weather. It may rain in the morning tomorrow, but they said that by noon it will all be out of here and sunshine the rest of the day. It will make my week even shorter next week. They won't be leaving until Monday, so then I'll have just two days before we leave. That also means only two days to get everything together. The week we are home is filling up pretty fast, but that is okay. That will give us a chance to see everyone. We then won't be back until summer, but we will probably be around for a little bit longer time then.

Baseball has been pretty wet this week, but Chad has managed to get some practicing in. Since it has been raining, we have been inside a lot this week. Yesterday we did manage to get outside and Maddie got to play in outside. We need to get one of those driveway nets for her, so she can't run into the street, but until we get one I improvised with a volleyball net. We had gotten a volleyball/racquetball set for our wedding and have never opened it. So I put the net on the pole and put it across the driveway. Maddie could have easily lifted it up and went under, but she just saw it as a stopping point, so that was good. I don't think that will last too long before she figures it out.

This seems to be reoccurring, but I hope that everyone is staying warm up north.

Baseball Is Upon Us

Yes, the day has finally arrived, it is the first day of baseball for Chad. After having a two day week last week, he gets to dive right into a full week of school and practice. It is still sometimes hard to believe that baseball is starting when it is still January, but it is 50 degrees outside. There are some baseball seasons up north that you are lucky if you hit 50 at all during the season. It is suppose to cool down a little again and also there is suppose to be some more rain this week, so that might put a damper on practice a little bit, especially since basketball is still going on, so the gym is still in use. Okay enough about baseball.

So after the short week of school we decided to not do too much this weekend. We watched half of the JV girls game at school on Friday after school. We went to pick Chad up since Emma had her 6 month check up that morning. I'm glad to report that she is a healthy one year old. She is still off the charts for both height and weight. Maddie was the same way until 18 months old. Maddie is still off on the height, but right on it for weight. I am assuming that is how Emma is going to be too. I was also not surprised when Dr. Karr said that Emma has allergies too. You can tell just by the way she breathes. So we will have to endure these also until she can get tested. Saturday there wasn't much going on. I got the grocery shopping done, I pulled two more rosebushes and we just hung out at home watching basketball. Yesterday we went to Phill and Shelly's for the Bears game. Maddie had fun chasing the dog around. Everyone was happy with the outcome of that game, but I don't think everyone was with the Colts winning. It was a good game. We left from their house after the 1st quarter and it we turned it on when we got home, but I really didn't start watching it until the 4th quarter, just when it was starting to get good. With us going over to Phill and Shelly's right in the middle of the day, I was counting on Maddie falling asleep in the car on the way over and being able to lay her down for a little while at their house. Well she fell asleep on the way over, but then didn't want to stay asleep once she knew where we were. So she kept herself going the whole afternoon. When we got in the car to come home, she was out before we even got out of their subdivision, we then laid her on the couch at home. I thought that she would wake up while being out in the living room, well she did about a half hour later, just long enough to get her diaper changed and pajamas on. So then she went right back to sleep in her crib. So she went to bed about 6:30 last night and got up at about 7 this morning.

This week is just going to be adjusting to Chad getting home a little later. I know we will manage just fine, but it will be an adjustment. Nothing too big going on this weekend. We are heading out in a week from Thursday for Wisconsin. While we are gone it sounds like Chad is hosting a Superbowl party. Hope everyone is staying warm up north. I heard there was a little more snow, now if it could just stay around for about 2 weeks, so Maddie can play in it a little bit and maybe try out sledding.

Winter Weather Advisory

Yes, that is right. Texas is in a winter weather advisory. Chad had no school today because of the threat of freezing rain and ice. By us none of this ever happened, but north of us it did. As of right now there is school tomorrow, but it is suppose to be worse tomorrow than it was today. We do have freezing rain here and so that means that there might be a possiblity of no school tomorrow either. I love listening to the weather people and all the other Texans. They think that life cannot go on when the weather is this cold. We did go up to school for awhile. Chad had some work to do and so we went with him and Maddie ran around the gym chasing a superball.

Besides the cold weather, we are getting ready for baseball to start on Monday. The field is pretty wet, so Chad isn't even sure if they will be able to get on the field on Monday. Chad's dad had left us last Thursday for San Antonio, where the weather is even colder than here. After our day of jungle digging, we went over to some friends' house on Sunday night. The Odinga's had some people over since there was no school on Monday. The girls went with us and while we played Taboo, Maddie played with the dogs and Emma slept on the fouton. We had a good time and then just relaxed yesterday. Today with no school for Chad, I was able to get some grocery shopping done and some other stuff around the house.

On Sunday I did go to Michael's to use the gift card that my parents gave me for Christmas. I got some really good stuff for scrapbooking and cards. I have decided that I want to get Maddie's scrapbook done. I am only going to do the first year and so I have even gotten the pictures I need into a folder on the computer and now I just have to send them to Wal-Mart. I am hoping to get hers done and all the while get Emma's organized to do when I can. I even got started on some Valentine's.

The girls are doing good. We rescheduled Emma's 6 month check up for this Friday. We ended up going to Waco last Thursday with Chad for a baseball coach's conference. Emma is getting up on all fours and starting to rock back and forth. Maybe by the time we head to Wisconsin she will be crawling. Maddie is Maddie. She is starting to throw more tantrums, when we say no to her. She also is just starting to use no back to us. I think that that is pretty good. 19 months and now she is starting to use no. She usually says no to everything, even if she means yes. You will ask her if she is ready to eat and she says no as she is climbing into her chair.

Hope that everyone up north is keeping warm, I saw that it is pretty cold up there too. I also heard that there is snow. Maybe some of it will stick around for Maddie to play with in two weeks.

Our Saturday

Well we are homeowners, so that means taking care of the yard. For those of you who have been to the house, you know that we have what you might call a small jungle on the side of the driveway. I had dug out about half of it this past fall and the other half has just been sitting there. I told Chad that the rose bushes needed to be gone before baseball, so we can actually go outside and not worry about Maddie running into one or grabbing a branch of one. So we decided that we would start the digging out process today. We started at about 10 and finished at 4:30, we did have about an hour and a half break when the girls needed lunch and then to be put down for their afternoon nap. Maddie spent half her time outside with us and the other half running back into the house to watch tv. Emma did spend some time outside in her saucer and then the rest of the time napping. We managed to get the rest of the jungle dug out and also the rest of the leaves in the front yard raked and bagged. We thought about it too late to take a before picture, but we did get some after pictures. Sorry they are a little dark, I wanted to take a shower and then I went out and took the pictures.




















This is from the end of the driveway, the garage is on the upper left















This the view from inside the garage
















All this trash is just the jungle. The black bags are two deep

Despite all of the work we did today, I feel good about our progress. Now we just have to decide what to do with the space. There are still a few rosebushes to take out in the backyard and the front. Those will have to wait until another day.

Back into rountine, sort of

Well we have been back for about a week now and we are getting back into the swing of things. The girls have been getting over their colds and getting used to the same old routine of being home. Grandpa Janetzke has been with us since last Thursday and will be leaving this Thursday. We didn't see him much the first couple of days he was here, but that is because he was at a conference. Chad and him did manage to get a round of golf in yesterday and today we spent some time at the park. I thought today was going to be the day we were going to have to take Maddie to the hospital. She was playing on the playground and at one of the spots of the play area where there is an open area, like where you can go across on the rings or climb up or go down the spirally thing. She decided that she wanted to get off, she did just step off, she did at least turn around and dangle herself off before falling. Good thing grandpa was there to break her fall a bit. I think she was more scared than hurt and just a few minutes later she was back to playing.

This past weekend we also got to hang out with the Keiper's and the Brennan's at the Keiper's on Saturday. There were 7 kids in all. Emma wasn't the littlest, Faith is just three months old, but then the next is Maddie and the oldest is in Kindergarten, so you can imagine what the house was like while we were there. It was fun to see them all playing and interacting. Even Emma was having a good time watching the boys playing ball in the house.

This week should be pretty routine. Emma has her 6 month check up on Friday. The girls and I are on our own from Thursday to Friday. Chad will be in Waco for a baseball conference. There is no school next Monday and then the week after that baseball starts. Not only does Chad have to get into a different mind set, but so do I. It sounds like we are going to have some visitors in March and then some more for Easter. We have started looking at making summer plans and hopefully we will get some of those finished sooner than later.

It sounds like it has been staying somewhat warm up north, I am still hoping that maybe there will be a little snow on the ground while we are there in February. I know that Maddie would love to play and sled.

We hope that everyone has recovered from the holidays and are able to get back into a routine of your own. We are praying for cousin Sam as he got tubes in today and also his annoids(spelling) out.

The rest of the Christmas pictures

All good things come to an end

Well Christmas vacation is officially over. Chad is at school at a meeting. There are no kids there today, but they still needed to be there for a meeting at 9am. I think that Maddie is happy to be home, sleeping in her own bed, and playing with all her toys. We are all glad to be home in our own place and not living out of suitcases, but we enjoyed our trip up to Wisconsin. The last time I wrote was the 27th. That afternoon we headed up to Germantown to hang with the Janetzke clan and some extended family. It was good to see everyone who was there, but the evening was a little shorter than we probably would have liked, but Maddie and Emma were still under the weather and so they needed to get home to bed. Thursday was spent running around with Grandma Heff trying to get things for the mini-family fun night on Friday. Maddie was with us in the morning. We then headed home for lunch, Maddie took a nap and Grandma and I were back out. The evening brought Katie and James over to see the girls and then we got to go out with them for dinner. We went to Saz's, the wait was over an hour, so we then went to The Chancery. We hung out there for a bit and then went over to Leff's for a beer. Friday was getting things packed and ready to go. Amy and Ben got to the house about noon and we got to play with them for awhile. The evening was my mom's card club get together. We were up at Mount Olive and it was good to see all of them. The little kids seemed to enjoy the games we put together and also all the prizes they got. Cousin Sam wasn't feeling well, so Amy headed home, but Ben stayed and slept over at Grandma and Grandpa's with us. Saturday morning we headed out for Joplin, MO at about 8:45am. We pulled into Jolpin at about 7:30 that night. We made pretty good time and the girls did great in the car. I think that they were so tired, that they appreciated just being able to sleep whenever. Maddie ran around the hotel room awhile until bedtime. We then headed out on Sunday morning about 8:30am and were on our way to Carrollton. We got there around 2pm and spent New Year's Eve playing cards and visiting with the Wilde's. Yesterday we got on the road at about 10:15 and were home in Spring by 2pm. It was nice to get home and to be able to unpack everything. Maddie was happy to see her toys and I think just a familiar place. The next couple of days will be low key and on Thursday Grandpa Janetzke comes for about a week and a half. He has some meetings here in Houston and also in San Antonio. Baseball starts on the 22nd and the girls and I are leaving on February 1st for Wisconsin. I have a feeling that this month is going to fly by. We hope that everyone had a Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year.

Pictures up to noon on Christmas Day

Christmas is over?

That's right, it has been here and has gone. I am still trying to figure out where the last week has gone. We were in Springfield,MO a week ago getting ready to finsih our drive to Wisconsin. We have been having lots of fun the last week, but it has been exhausting. Being sick and having one kid being sick doesn't help either. Both Maddie and I have been fighting colds for the last week. I guess my body has gotten used to the warm weather and isn't able to take the change as easily. We spent last week at Chad's parent's house- everyone was there and we had a good time. We didn't get too much game playing in, but we did get a round of Fact or Crap in on Christmas Eve. It was a fun game that Josh had gotten as a present. Maddie loves to open presents and she opened pretty much everyone's. She also crashed by about 8pm in the middle of the living room just completely exhausted. Christmas Day was with the Heffelfingers. Most of the presents were opened by adults because the kids just wanted to play with each other. We then headed to my aunt and uncle's house for the evening. Yesterday was a relaxing day. We did get to take our new wagon out for a spin. Maddie, Ben, Joel, and I took them to the playground and Ben and Maddie played for awhile. We ended the evening with us at the Chancery for dinner. We were going to go to Friday's Front Row, but no hot water. Today is a trip up to Germantown to see some of Chad's aunts, uncles, and cousins. We have a lazy day tomorrow and then Friday we will be getting ready to head home on Saturday morning. We are spending New Year's in Carrollton, so our drive is a little bit shorter than normal, so that is helpful. Now we will just have to see if all of our stuff can fit in the car. We hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and that your New Year is happy.

Our Christmas

A moment to relax

Okay, so I have about a half an hour before the Wilke's come over, so we can celebrate Christmas with them. I figured I should give a real update about us and the girls. The last few weeks have been just a whirlwind of time. I don't even know where most days go to. Okay, so Maddie has been getting over her double ear infection. She has been a real trooper about it. She has been more active everyday. We are getting into our "terrible twos" already. She is starting to throw mini-tantrums when she doesn't get her way. She is still as active as ever. She got to write the Christmas letter this year. This afternoon after church we had our Christmas here and she was just loving it. I can't wait to see what she is like when we are with everyone up north. We had to wait until Chad got back from school this afternoon and there were a few times where I caught her trying to open the presents on her own. We got her a train set and she loves it. She has been playing with it all afternoon.

Emma is still growing more and more. She is so ready to crawl and gets so mad that she can't move around. She has started growling at people. It is quite humorous to have her start growling in church. She likes to pull the paper off the presents, but has no idea what is going on.

I feel like we are closer to being ready to go than we were just a few hours ago. Tomrrow will be another story. Chad starts finals tomorrow. His final is actually on Wednesday, but he won't be there, so he had to get everything done and copied, so he is ready to go. We will hopefully have an uneventful trip and get to Wisconsin in a timely fashion. We get to stop in St. Louis and see Jamie and Greg and to meet their daughter Naomi on Wednesday for lunch.

In Memory

On Friday afternoon, Reverend Edwin Keiper was called home to the Lord. This is Isaac's grandpa and Paul's (the A.D. at CLHS) dad. Paul and Christa have been in Austin off and on since after Thanksgiving. The funeral is on Thursday here in Houston, but we will already be in Wisconsin. I know that some of you who read this blog, know Paul's brother Val from CUW- all of the siblings have been in Austin for the last few days. So we are praying for all the Keiper's.

We're Back

Well we are back up and running here at the house. I am hoping to actually post something to read tonight. We are frantically trying to get everything ready to leave on Tuesday. I have laundry going right now and so that means trying to get the girls started on packing. We will see if I can get something up later, if not I'll post once we get to Wisconsin and let you know all about our road trip.

Technical Difficulties

We are experiencing technical difficulties at our house with our internet, so I'm not completely sure when we will be back up and running, so I am posting from school. We are in the rush this week of trying to get everything done for the trip home. Everyone is doing fine. Maddie went to the doctor on Friday for her 18 month check up. She is great, except that she has a double ear infection. She hasn't been acting any different than normal. This would explain the extra clumsiness she has been experiencing the last week or so. So we will hopefully get some pics up when we are back up and running at the house, but for now, we will be getting ready for our trip home and will see a lot of you in the next few weeks.

Winter Weather is Welcome

I know, I know, all you northerners and your snow are probably saying to yourself that I am crazy for wanting winter weather. But you have to remember something, our winter weather is your spring weather without the snow. In the evenings it has been getting down to freezing and during the days it is anywhere from 50-60. By the end of the week we are suppose to be back into the high 60's, but then another front should move in. Now if you are still wondering why I want the winter weather, it is probably because I was born and raised up by you. I like having 4 seasons, not 2- comfortable and uncomfortable. Anyways, enough with the weather. As much as most of you don't like the snow, I am hoping that it will be there when we get there in a couple of weeks. Remember that Christmas is the only time Maddie will get the chance to have snow. There are kids at the high school who have never seen snow- I don't want Maddie to be like that.

This week-what a week. We were getting back into the swing of things from Thanksgiving break. Chad thought that his grades were due on Monday, but instead he had all the way until Friday to get them done, so that was some relief for him. Wednesday he got to take the day off and come home to help with the girls, as I seemed to had pulled something in my back. I was reaching in the cupboard for a bowl and then I couldn't move, it had been spasing for a little while, but then after they stopped, it was just real sore, so trying to pick up our two girls was a feat in itself. So he came home and helped. The weekend wasn't too much of anything. Friday he had to ref at one of the grade schools with Phill, so I went and picked up Christian from his basketball practice and then we had pizza with them at our place. Saturday I was set on getting some Christmas shopping done, but ended up with not too much. Sunday we ended up going to late church and then we just spent the day playing and watching football. I did get the tree and decorations up and Maddie is still a little curious about the tree. She hasn't taken any ornaments off, but has to go around and touch them all. She has tried to put the lights in her mouth.

This week looks pretty slow. Maddie has her 18month check up on Friday. I think that she has grown up, but I don't think she has grown out, we will see. This weekend is the faculty Christmas party. I'm not sure if we are both going or if I am just going to send Chad. We will see how the week goes.

We leave in two weeks from tomorrow and I am already trying to get things ready here. I have been trying to make a list of the things that we will need in the car and for the ride. I'm sure we will be getting ready up until the moment we leave. Have a great week.

This week in Pictures

Thanksgiving 2006

Jamie has started putting these slide shows on her blog and since I have completely redone my blog, I thought that maybe I would try something a little different with my pictures too.

It has been awhile since my last post, but that might have something to do with the fact that we haven't been home in over a week. Last Saturday (the 18th) was a playoff football game, we won 65-41. That meant that they survived another week. We took off for Carrollton on Sunday morning about 9:30am. We got there about 2:30, that was after a short stop in Ennis for lunch. Chad had the opening worship for the conference on Sunday, so the girls and I stayed home. Monday Maddie was in heaven with having other kids to play with. Kathy watches 4 kids, but only three of them were there, so Maddie had friends to play with the whole day. Emma and I did some errand running in the morning and then came home for a nap. I went to pick Chad up at Prince of Peace and we went out with some of the staff from CLHS. It was nice to be out without the girls. Tuesday was a short day for Chad, so the girls and I went and picked him up and we went to the mall for lunch. We then headed home and that night Adam (Chad's college roommate), Kimi-another CUWer, and her husband came over and had dinner with us. We then ended up playing 8-handed euchre. It was a lot of fun. Wednesday was a hang out day. We went to church in the evening and then came home and played more cards. Thursday-Turkey Day. The girls gave us a great Thanksgiving present and they both slept for about thre hours. Emma was in the pack-n-play all by herself. It was so nice to have my hands free to do other things. We got to play outside since it was 78degrees. We ate and of course played more cards. Friday we (the girls) did venture out to Michaels for a few things. The boys stayed home and watched the Texas/A&M game. A&M did come out the winner, but it was a good game. We took Eric and Christina out for pizza while Dave and Kathy celebrated their anniversary. We came back and watched The Incredibles and then when everyone got home, it was another round of cards. I have no idea who won how many games, but we will have to get the official scoring from Dave and make sure we let Grandma and Grandpa Bickel know. Saturday we headed out at about 9:30. After taking out time and stopping at Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet, we managed to pull in about 2:45pm. Last night was a try to get unpacked and get things together. Maddie was so happy to see all her toys, that she managed to take everyone out of her toybox, all the ones off the shelves, and even dump her bins in her room. It is like is was some sort of homecoming ritual for her. Today was church, grocery shopping and football. We still have some unpacking to do and some getting the house in order. We are going to get all the Christmas stuff out next weekend and start the decorating. This week should be pretty low key, nothing major going on. Chad has just 8 weeks until baseball, so planning is beginning. We have just three weeks until we leave for Christmas and so we still have shopping to get done (I have a feeling that some of that will be done once we get to Wisconsin), and plans to make for while we are home.

We hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We can't wait to see everyone in just a few weeks for Christmas. I am hoping for some snow for Maddie to be able to play and sled in. I just have this feeling that she will love sledding.

In a new weight class

Well Emma had her 4 month check-up today and I think that she now weighs more than her cousin Ella who will be a year old next month. She had to get shots again today, but she did great. Maddie didn't have to have a check up, her's is next month. We got some medicine to hopefully clear up both of their colds that have made their noses run constantly for the last 3 weeks. We go through about a box of kleenex every 2 days. Other than that, just still recovering from the trip home last weekend. We are getting ready to leave again on Sunday morning after church. Saturday is the football playoff game, I don't think we will be going, but Chad has to be there to supervise. At least the game starts at 6pm instead of 7:30, so he should get home semi-early. We hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving and it may be awhile until we post again.

What a Weekend

We have been gone and back to Wisconsin and it seemed like such a whirlwind weekend, but it was a whole lot of fun. The flight up there was good. Emma had a little hard time adjusting and then finally fell asleep. At least there was another kid on the plane that screamed the whole flight. Then Friday we went to Martin Luther and got a chance to catch up with Mr. Wingfield and saw cousin Alex in class. We met Amy, Ben, and Sam at Grandma and Grandpa's and headed out to Chuck E Cheese for lunch. Ben and Maddie had lots of fun playing games and running around. The rest of the day was spent hanging out. Saturday was Eric and Jackie's wedding. It was a good time. We went to the hotel after the ceremony and just waited for the reception to start. By 6pm some of the Janetzke clan came to take Emma and watch her up in the room. Maddie then stayed and danced for awhile. She was having a ball, she was dancing and doing sommersaults everywhere, even on the dance floor. We hung out for awhile, but came to the conclusion that we are getting old as we all sat around a table and just talked. In the morning we got up and ate breakfast with everyone and then it was off to the Janetzke's for the day. It was awesome to meet Luke and to see everyone. Not too much to report from Sunday, just a lot of catching up and hanging out. The flight back was pretty uneventful. We got back to the house by about 3:30 and it was just getting things in order for the rest of the night. I have loads of laundry to do to get ready to pack to go up to Carrollton this weekend. I can hardly believe that next week is already Thanksgiving. Tonight we are going to the girls basketball game, since the next home game isn't until December 15th or something like that. We have about 5 weeks until Christmas. That isn't that far away either. We are looking forward to having a little bit more time to see everyone then. Here are pictures from this weekend.














Get outta my way- Stuart and I might just run you over














Here's how Emma spent her day at Chuck E Cheese















Almost everyone looking at the camera















Waiting for the party to start














Just can't get them all at the same time














Cousin Ella-boy does she have one heck of a scream














Dancing with dad














Luke and Emma just talking to each other














Luke might be wearing the wrong colors, but we still love him

A warm up here, so I think we'll head up north

Yes, we had our fall weather. It did dip down into the 40's at night here, but this week it is suppose to be back to 80 by Thursday. So what a perfect time to fly to Wisconsin and feel the nice 20 degree weather. I have a feeling that the longer we are down here, the harder it is going to be to adjust to the cold when we go back to visit. I think that I will be able to tolerate the cold because we get to see everyone. I am getting so excited to head home. It seems like it has been forever since we have seen anyone, even though Grandma and Aunt Jana were just down here three weeks ago. I have started to try to get organized for the week, but I'm sure that on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning we will be getting everything together.

This weekend was Homecoming. We did manage to get to the game and stay for the entire thing. We won 42-14. Maddie loves going to the games, so she can just run around with all the other kids. It was a little cold. It actually felt like football weather. Saturday Chad had announcing duty at school. The TAPPS had regional play at school and so he announced all the games. We went up and when the games were down, Maddie did what she does best, ran around the gym. Today has been a pretty lazy day. We went to church and came home and I went grocery shopping, it has been watching football the rest of the day. I have managed to throw some laundry in and get some other cleaning done too. This week looks pretty low key, just getting ready to go on Thursday. Christian does have a basketball game on Tuesday and so we might go to that. We can't wait to see everyone and meet cousin Luke. Maddie has been practicing her dance moves, so she can dance with cousin Ben at the party where there will be cake (Ben told me that there was going to be cake at this party on the phone the other day).














Maddie never wants to leave her hair in ponytails, so this is what she normally looks like when she pulls them out.














Here are the girls waiting for the game to start on Friday, Maddie was trying to sit like Emma (since she was propped up on the couch)














Outside at school, just hanging out on the picnic tables



















Always wondering why the camera is always in her face














Isaac trying to give Maddie a kiss