all star

THIS is a big deal.  Math is not Jack's favorite subject.  He and Andy have been putting a good amount of time making sure he has his ducks in a row, and making sure he has his facts memorized. He wants to succeed, and while he pretty much hates practicing with us, he does it.

When he comes home with a note like this, we know it is paying off:)

Christmas morning

Christmas morning started for us about 7:00 am.  The girls were the first ones up, and the they headed downstairs to see what awaited them.  I snuck down shortly thereafter and found them admiring the tree together.  Andy and Isaac trickled down shortly thereafter and we finally woke Jack up about 8 am.  The gift unwrapping began upon his arrival.

Yes that is me! In my 'old lady pajamas' opening a present.  And I am laughing because as I am pulling out the canning jar filled with something brown when Lucy pipes up with, "It might look like poop in a jar, but it isn't!" Phew.  I was glad that she clarified.  It was in fact a gingerbread scrub that she made at Faith in God.  They spent a couple activities in FIG making gifts for family members and so this was the first year that they had gifts for each other.  It was quite nice seeing the efforts that they put into homemade gifts like Isaac's hand tied blanket, Cassidy's bracelets, Andy's tie dyed shirts and my scrubs.

Lucy was happy to receive her new Kindle complete with many, many books (including the Harry Potter series!- Thanks Aunt Jenny for the hook up!), and some Harry Potter accessories; Cassidy and Isaac each got a Plasma Car for when spring arrives and Cassidy also got a fancy new Elsa nightgown, a few books, and some Frozen leggings. Isaac got a 'ba-lue' tip up (which he hugged he was so excited!), a Curious George puzzle and a camera (which he loves more that I could have hoped for!). Jack got his Marquette tickets and outing, a kit for growing prehistoric Triops eggs, a kids Cranium game and a new Brewers hat.  Andy got the fancy schmancy carving knife he has been wanting for filleting fish, and I got the Kitchen Aid mixer I had been wanting for years.  We were all spoiled!

After we finished opening gifts, Andy and I started making our traditional Christmas Morning breakfast.  It has been a tradition in Andy's family since he was a small child.  I love that we are making it one of our traditions now too.  We enjoyed German Egg bake pancakes, hashbrown bake, venison tenderloins, cottage cheese, tomato, and Kringle.  We had our choice of sparkling grape bubbily, egg nog, and 'good' (not from a can) OJ to drink.  

 Andy tends to make fun of me for being one who is hung up on tradition, but as I think about it now, he is one for traditions as well.  It is so neat to me that he has taken it upon himself to make sure Great Grandma's Pumpkin Chiffon Pie recipe is not lost, that Grandpa Jack's pickled fish lives on and now that his family gets to enjoy the breakfast he looked forward to each Christmas morning.

After Breakfast Grandma, Grandpa and Jake came over with a few gifts for the kids.  Grandma is recovering well from surgery but we still need to be gentle with her.

'Twas the night before Christmas

time to make the donuts

I spotted this recipe for homemade doughnuts awhile ago.  Each time I thought about making them I just felt like there was too much to do that day and so it got put off.  Then Christmas Break hits!  The kids want donuts and the recipe pops into my head.  Lucy jumps as the chance to help me; we have an entire vacation of time and very little slated for the day so decide to make them.

The recipe was pretty simple and it gave me an excuse to get out the biscuit cutters I got at a rummage (years ago!) that I hadn't used before.  We mixed up the dough, rolled it out, cut out donuts and donut holes and got the glaze ready all while the oil was heating to temperature.

The oil was the part that intimidated me.  I really hadn't deep fried anything before.  I learned a lot doing so, though!  Next time I know to err on the side of thicker donuts, and to keep an eye on how golden the donuts are getting rather than how long they've been in the oil.

Then the fun of glazing came!  Isaac joined in on the fun for this part and then we all enjoyed our homemade treat.


I hope to try these again sometime with a few minor adjustments!

reading machine

Cassidy's reading skills are really growing!  She got a Frozen easy reader book from Grandma that she was so excited about.  On the way home we stopped in Menasha to see Great Grandpa and Grandma and to wish them a Merry Christmas.  Cassidy wanted to show Great Grandma how well she can read now and Grandma was happy to oblige.

Milwaukee Christmas

We traveled to Milwaukee to visit Grandma and Grandpa and Jenny's family for our Christmas celebration.  The kids had been asking for weeks if it was finally time... and it finally was!  

We picked them up from school early and he headed down to Milwaukee, making only one stop at the Union Star Cheese Factory for a quick potty break and yummy snack.  

Friday night was especially exciting for Jack because he was going to the Marquette Game with Andy!  One of his Christmas presents from Andy and me was to go to the Al McGuire Center to watch Marquette stomp Alabama A&M.  Jack said he just loved it! They parked near our old apartment, got some dinner at the Dog Haus, and walked through campus to get there.  Andy said it was so neat walking down memory lane as Jack remembered fields we'd play Frisbee in, sights and streets we frequented, the 'gorilla' statue (actually Jacques Marquette ha!) and our old home.  

The rest of us played with cousins and grandparents and had great fun too.  It was so great to see Dad.  It was my first time seeing him since he had his surgery and he looked great!  A little skinnier, but other than that he looked like Dad.  He has been feeling pretty good and had his energy back to play with the kids and rough house.  That gift in itself was enough for me!

The next morning we had Christmas morning with Grandpa and Grandma.  And the wrapping paper went flying! 

BABY ALIVE!!!

HARRY POTTER POP UP BOOK!

As you can see in the picture above hard playing comes at a price! Isaac ran his truck into the side of the wooden chair and gave himself a black eye the night before!

Never seen anyone so proud that their baby pooped!

It was a great trip and has us excited for our annual February trip!

Jack's fourth grade Holiday Concert

Isaac and I went to Jack's Christmas Concert at school this year. Once again I was astounded at the turnout!  They had set up 350 chairs and had to bring a bunch more in from classrooms to accommodate all the family that attended.  That in itself was heartwarming.

This year the fourth grade learned to use recorders in music class.  I was ready to have to cover my ears from the shrill notes, but they really did a good job.

I mentioned to Jack that I thought he did a really nice job and that I enjoyed the accompaniment of the recorders.  He gave me a little smirk. "I didn't play a note!' he said.  I just laughed.

After the program we enjoyed a cookie and some hot cocoa and visited with Jack a bit in the hallway.
I spotted this piece of artwork and thought it was SO cool.

And ... my boys ♥. And their spikey hair.  I had to laugh.  That morning we wet his unruly hair down, and put mousse in it to keep it down so it would look good for the program.  As he came funneling into the gym with the crowd of fourth graders, it was obvious that he had decided to put his hat on without thinking about his hair- in true Jack fashion. :)

readers theater and gingerbread goodness

We were invited to watch Cassidy's kindergarten classroom's reader's theater today.  It was super cute.  The kids did a great job knowing when to read their parts.  They were encouraged to use their emotion and enthusiasm and some of it was so over the top, we just had to laugh.  It was so fun to watch!

Afterwards we decorated gingerbread houses with the class.  You should have seen their eyes when the candy goodies were delivered to each table!

 For every swipe of frosting on their houses,,, there was another swipe onto their tongues.

 Goodies waiting to go home!

 Cassidy's is the green reindeer.  I just love how she spells things ♥. And her fancy signature interlooped  'dy' at the end of her name.