Our weekend (Feb. 18 - 20)

We had a special vacation planned for the kiddo's this past weekend and excitement was in the air! Lately as a Christmas gift to all, my parents have been giving us and my sisters a small vacation with the whole family to Wisconsin Dells. It just so happened that with Presidents day the kids had off school, it worked out for this weekend for all AND we got an extra day out of the trip! This year, we went to Great Wolf and had a nice large condominium room (with kitchen) to accommodate the whole clan.

We had been talking about the trip for roughly a week or so and come Friday, the kids were so excited they could barely stand it. Friday was a busy day with laundry being done, bags being packed, and groceries being bought. Emma also had a treat on Friday as she got picked up in the carpool lane. She has been begging me for about week to come to school and pick her up in the carpool lane instead of her riding the bus home. Why it was so important to her, I have no idea, but she had been asking sweetly and since I was out running errands on Friday anyway, it was easy to comply to her request. It was fun to watch her so proudly march out to the carpool area where the mini-van packed packing lot was full of people waiting. (and me in my little Corolla)

While I was out running errands, Tim and Evan went to bring Sage to Tim sister's house as they were dog sitting for us. Apparently for Evan, this was the signal in his head that we were going to the Dells, as when he got home, he ran up to his room to pack his bag. And when I say "pack" I say this loosely as he basically threw his swimming trucks in his blue "Evan" suitcase and ran downstairs with it clunking behind him chattering about getting ready to go to the Dells. Tim and I thought this was just hilarious as Evan was only one and a half the last time we were there (so he doesn't remember it), but he was excited! Talk about feeding off of other's energy :-)

(This was taken Friday. He had his suitcase by him constantly after it was packed (with his swimming trunks) )

So, Friday night was filled with packing clothes and PIZZA! We had the neighbors over (J & MJ) over for a Pizza dinner party and the kids made their own personal pizza's for the party. They ate a few bites, watched a movie, and then came back to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jim and eat a piece of cake :-) From there, it was a night filled with dreams of water, slides, and playing with family!

Saturday morning we finished packing (and actually got Evan to put clothes in his suitcase too) and got on the road! The drive down was easy and filled with excited talk. Emma was so excited as she did remember the Dells and was talking the whole time about all the rides she was going to go on. She talks a big story and I was so excited and hopeful that she would try out a few more of the slides. We got some dinner on the road, the kids watched Cars 2 and I tried to take a nap as I knew that when you get the cousins together in one "lodge" and all 4 Heuers in one room, it can be a sleeping disaster.

We got to the Dells arond 1:15 and luckily, our room was ready to go. After all the food & bags were unloaded, the whole Brunner clan headed to the water park. 7 adults, 5 of the older cousins, and 2 twins trudging their way to the waterpark. And then - FUN! The kids were running around, trying this ride, going to that ride, and the adults were stuck in the middle constantly counting heads and making sure everyone was safe and together. It was a really a nice time. It works out so well to be able to stay at the water park as people can go back and forth depending on nap times. We bring enough food for a week so we are ready for snacks & meals at any time.

Evan loved the slides and went down all that he was able too. Tim was the one who stuck with Evan ( because remember, they are good ole' buddies now) and per Tim, he was going as much and as fast as his little legs could carry him. Over and over and over again at this one section in the waterpark made for little kiddo's.

Emma was still a little hesitant and while she was excited on the drive down, she stayed with some old favorites and was in the wave pool a lot! Hopefully as she gets older, she will feel more comfortable and will try a few more. She was still by all her cousins and they all splashed together and had a great time.

Unfortunately, the first night we were down there, we didn't get a lot of sleep. We were in a room with two double beds, so Tim and I each took one bed and one kid. That was a recipe for disaster. I think the kids were over-tired with the excitement of the trip and no nap... meaning, they had a sound sleep, but a restless sleep. They were CONSTANTLY tossing and turning and making it very difficult for Tim and I to sleep. At some points, the kids heads were at our feet, Emma kept whacking me in the head with her hands, and Evan was talking and shifting every 5 minutes. No good. It was funny as Tim and I were discussing it the next morning, we had both contemplated sleeping on the floor the prior night - yes, it was that bad. The next night, we got a bit smarter and made Evan a comfy floor bed. It was much, much better and - he loved his little bed. For about an hour prior to bed time, he was constantly running from the living room, to our room, and jumping "Cowbunga" into his bed.

Overall - a great, great trip! It is something everyone looks forward to every year and as the kids get older, I am sure they will enjoy it even more! The cousins don't all get together that often other than holidays and it is fun to watch them all play.

I took a few pictures, but honestly, not that many. I didn't really feel like bringing my camera into the water park and, I don't know, just didn't feel like taking pictures!

Here is a picture of the kids with some belated Christmas presents. A fun surprise for all of them!

And finally, a picture with Nana and Papa and the kids saying "THANK YOU!" and ... can we do it again next year?

Hanging upside down in a tree

Imagine this. . . you are sitting at work in your little spreadsheet world, in your little cubicle when your cell phone rings. Odd, right? as usually no one calls your cell phone when you are at work, they call your work phone, right? Easy enough? Continue following along.... the rambling stories do come together at the end....

Anyway - my cell phone rings - and it is Kristen. (which apparently no one, but me, had to work today - grr)

"Guess what I just saw as I was on my way to Target?"

"Hmmm... I don't know? And - do I really care?" (but of course I care. She called my cell phone when I was at work, so it must be good.)

" I saw your husband driving your lawnmower down the road with Evan, taking Sage for a run."

" Ummm - what?"

"I know - right? Weird!"

After this some witty banter is exchanged, professing the strangeness of this sight, making me giggle as I picture this sight and think, "Gee - my husband can't take our dog for a walk now? He has to ride the lawn-mower instead?"

Anyway - let's just say that Tim and Evan are engaging in many fun events during the day with Tim's extended time at home, which I get to hear about and be wistful about when I arrive at home after a long grueling day at work. (And, for those that may not know, Tim unfortunately is unemployed at the moment - with a generous severance - thank goodness- and some hopeful/uncertain prospects for future employment. Needless to say, it has been somewhat stressful at home with the uncertainty for what our future holds.) Anyway, Tim and Evan are now good buddies and I got to hear some fun stories today about their day at home.

So, I arrive home and start kidding with Tim about the new means of taking Sage for a walk. ("Hey - Evan loved it!" was his reply) Then, I get the "Evan - tell Mommy what we did today!" Evan rambles off the lawnmower ride, his peanut butter & jelly sandwich for lunch and then runs off to go and wrestle with Emma. Tim starts a new story with...

"Well, Evan was outside climbing trees today. . . "

Me Cautiously: "okay, how high did he get?"

"well, pretty high"

Me: "okay - then what" just knowing that there is something I am not going to want to hear

"Well, his foot got caught and he was hanging there."

Me:"Umm.. what???"

"Yeah, his foot got caught, and he was hanging upside down, but then I got him down."

Me: "And where were you exactly when our 3 year old son was climbing trees?"

"I was in the garage getting the lawnmower ready." (of course - their other adventure had to be entwined somehow with this one.)

Me: "And you think it is okay for Evan to be climbing tree's on his own?" Thinking - seriously Tim?? Thankfully, he caught on to my sarcasm.

"Well, he wasn't climbing trees when I first went into the garage." --as in duh Kelly!-- "He was driving his gator. He started climbing trees later. " (because this makes it okay, I guess)

Me: "So, he was just HANGING THERE! As in upside down?"

"Yeah, his ankle got caught in a Y of the tree, so his leg was twisted and he was hanging upside down. His head was actually on the ground I think." and he says this like it is not a big deal!

Me: "Hmmm... you mean to tell me, that my son was climbing trees, he falls, ankle gets caught and he is hanging from a tree? Was he upset?"

"Yea, he was crying" once again - no real emotion from this one.

Me: "How long was he hanging there!"

"Not long - he was fine. I untwisted his ankle and he was fine."

Well - good then. apparently that makes it okay. there were no inspections for bumps or bruises even though his head was on the ground, and the little pair just hopped on the lawnmower and took Sage for a run.

Then, later, as Evan is getting ready for bed, Tim grabs a hold of his ankle and hangs him upside down. "Evan - you are in the tree again. HAHA!" And they both laugh.


Maybe, it is a good thing I am not home with them during the day....

Our weekend (Feb. 11 - 12)

We had another busy weekend at the Heuer household, but it was good - really good!



Friday night started with a movie night "Smurfs" for the Kelloggs and my little ones. It was fun to see how excited they were for the movie. I made some popcorn, the Kelloggs brought candy, and all was good in their world. We showed it on the big screen downstairs and they had a great time!

Saturday morning I had to go to church for a few hours to get the final lessons for Kindergarten Sunday school (which is actually on Monday). While I was out, the kids were busy with Tim making crowns for themselves and then boats for their American girl/boy dolls. (yes, even Evan was involved).


(The boats. I am not sure of the story behind these, but they were having fun with them nonetheless)

Here are their crowns. The kids love cutting and taping and gluing, so it is always fun to see what they come up with.


(and, they actually look like they are friends in these pictures! Sometimes, that is not the case)

After my church thing, it was then back home to go out to lunch - with the whole family... This caused some upset feelings as Emma and I originally had plans that it would be a Mother/Daughter outing. She was so excited when I got home from church because we had plans to go out for lunch and then do some shopping together, because in Emma's words "Mom, I just don't spend enough time with you alone without Evan." Unfortunately, when I got home from church, Tim asked Evan "So, are you ready to go out to eat with Mommy?" This led to an excited Evan, but a very upset & crying Emma. I felt so bad for the little lady, but gave her a big promise that we would have some alone time on Sunday. Lunch was a quick trip to Culvers and then back home for rest time. We all took a rest time, except for Emma. Man, I love taking afternoon naps!

After nap, Tim and I had a wine-tasting outing with neighbors J & MJ. We headed to Wisconsin to taste some local wines, local cheeses, and to have some good quality adult time. While we were out, the kids were here with Eric, Sage, Cole (Eric's puppy) and had fun chasing the dogs.

Sunday was Church school for Evan, which he protested a little, but always ends up having a good time at. Then finally, Emma and Mama outing. She again, was so excited and it is nice to have some good one-on-one time with her. We bought some swimsuits, went to Target, and then went to McDonald's at her request. We talked about school, Valentine's day, her life, and just random stuff. It was good and I have to remember to set aside more alone time with her.

The rest of the afternoon was time spent outside playing with the kids, a run for me, and then the kids playing beauty shop. Also - homework time. Emma, in celebration of her 100th day of kindergarten, had to count out 100 items of something. At Tim's suggestion, she counted out 100 popcorn kernels. A good representation in my mind of how 100 of something can look so small! And, of course, since Emma was doing homework, Evan had to as well. Here he is practicing writing his name.

And - beauty shop.

And, that is pretty much it. We ended the night with bathtime and stories.

Happy Valentine's Day!

While I unfortunately had 3 hours of Financial Accounting tonight, Tim and the kids had a wonderful Valentine's evening. They both were all excited after their big days - both had parties at either school or daycare - and the kiddo's came home excited with all of their loot. Tim took the kids to a local pizza joint to celebrate the day and both ate well and had a great time.

The pictures above show some flowers that Tim bought for me and some cards that the kids made for me. Evan did the drawing and Emma did the little heart shaped note "I Love Kelly, Love Emma." How sweet!

Now, it is 10:35, I just got done eating a big bowl of popcorn and drinking a beer and am blogging. How romantic!

Delayed Christmas pictures

While I have already told the stories, here are the belated pictures of Christmas Day. I don't have a lot of them, but still, good memories! (unfortunately, looking back at my scant collection of Christmas pictures, I wish I would have taken more! But, I was focusing more on the video-taking than the picture taking.)

And why no family picture, you may ask? I wanted to take a family picture the whole weekend... but.. sigh.. it didn't happen.



Sage got a really big bone in her stocking!

Emma trying out her new guitar!

Emma and empty stocking (and candy in her mouth I think!)

Evan and empty stocking as well.






Just Emma!

Evan and his fierce dragon toy that he received from Emma.

Emma with the beauty chair she received from Evan!

That's it! That's all she wrote for another Christmas! Next year I will hopefully be more organized - and have Tim help with some of the production and not just be on present patrol!

Introducing....with her hair cut....

No - you may think it is Kit Kittridge - but it is EMMA! (although a very cute-with- her- new- haircut Emma!)

Ever since Emma has received Kit, she has enjoyed dressing her, playing with her, and dressing up like her. I casually mentioned once that she could get her hair cut like Kit's as well. Well, ever since then, that is what Emma wanted. It was "Mom, can I get my haircut tonight? I want to look like Kit."

Finally, last week, I took her to Kids Hair in Woodbury. Emma brought Kit along and right when we walked in the door, the woman that was to cut her hair exclaimed, "Oh! You brought Kit!" Which made Emma beam. And then, when I told her that Emma wanted her hair cut like Kit she said, "Oh, I know the Kit cut! I have done the Kit cut many times!"

Emma sat so well for the whole cut (which she always does) and could barely contain her smile the whole time... it was very sweet :-)

While the picture posted isn't the best one of her new cut, it is still pretty cute and Emma is very happy!

You can call me stinky pants

It was bedtime and I had just got done reading two stories for the kids; the two stories that Emma just received from her Scholastic book orders: "Sharks: Big, Bigger, and Biggest: and "Don't worry Douglas!" We were reading them in my bed, all snuggly and covered up in blankets. The books had been read and Emma jumped out of bed to go to her room and get Kit ready for bed. Evan hides under the covers.

I say "Evan! Time for bed!" and then gently tickle him and pull the covers back. He looks at me and says,

"Hey! I not Evan!"

"Oh yeah?! If you are not Evan, who are you?"

"Me? I stinky pants!"

and then he laughs, lets me tickle him some more, and then jumps out of bed to go in his room.

What we did this past weekend... Feb. 4 & 5

Finally - a free weekend! I was excited, Emma was excited, and we took advantage of me not having school!





Saturday was a busy day. It was a Home Depot morning, so we got the kids breakfast, (I made YUMMY maple pecan scones courtesy of - you guessed it, The Pioneer Woman!) changed out of jams, and headed to Home Depot for their Saturday project. The kids absolutely love doing these as they get to wear an apron, use a hammer, and sometimes (if they are lucky) they even get to paint. THIS Saturday, they did get to paint AND have popcorn and they were in heaven. The project was a cute little Valentine box and they both had fun glueing and painting.

Here are a few pics of the kids with their creations.

After the Home Depot fun, it was home for a quick rest time (and to lay our new rugs down in our living rooms - yea!) as we had our next adventure planned out - the Hudson Hot Air Affair! I have wanted to go to this every year, as it is a hot air balloon festival! Many weekends in years past, I would see all the hot air balloons go past our house and I would say "Dammit! Missed it again!" but not this year! They had roughly 30 hot air balloon pilots signed up for the event, along with parades, flight shows, craft fairs, geocaching, etc. The weather on Saturday afternoon was beautiful and we were all anxious to see all the hot air balloons close up and in the sky.

Unfortunately - what we didn't account for was that the weather was too nice.... grrr... So, because of the nice WARM weather, the ground was all muddy, and it wasn't conducive to laying the balloons or baskets on the ground. Luckily, there were 2 pilots that were willing to take their balloons on the more solid ground and fire them up for the crowds to see.

Here are a few pictures of the balloons going up.





(see hubby and Emma on far left above)


I love the balloon on the left with the tomatoes and butterflies on it!


Here are the two kiddo's hanging out. They both loved watching the balloons - although Emma was disappointed here because they were out of cotton candy. (the nerve! a winter carnival not having enough cotton candy! She seemed to be satisfied then with the hot chocolate and warm chocolate chip cookies)

And - my hubby and I!

After the excitement in Hudson, we headed back home to get ready for supper. Tim and I were heading out to our favorite place in Stillwater (Phil's Hideaway - absolutely the best!) and the kids were bouncing off the walls excited that their beloved Theresa (their daycare provider) was coming over with her daughter Breezy (Emma's best friend) to watch the kids. Theresa does a wonderful thing for her families and gives each of her families one night of free babysitting for Christmas! By the time she arrived with candy and movies, Tim and I were ready to go out.

We had a lovely date night and dined on shrimp in a cream & white wine reduction sauce, scallops in a lobster cream sauce (heavenly), a new york strip, wine, and desserts. It was absolutely wonderful to get away for a night and relax, have good conversation, and fabulous food!

Sunday was a more low-key day. Evan had his Sunday School concert at 10:15 and he really didn't want to go. Evan has been a bit more stubborn lately and has been trying to assert his independence. It has made for some interesting times, that is for sure. Anyway, he did attend church with us and did actually participate in the concert. He proudly marched up the aisles in church, stood at the front of church with is fellow three year olds, and started picking his nose. Nice.... luckily, he did stay at the front of the church. There were many of his counterparts that (upon seeing their parents) decided to leave their spot and join their parents. So, at least he stayed at the front, even though his finger was in his nose for part of it.

The kids sang 4 songs and did hand motions to them. two of them were" "He's got the whole world in his hands" and a religious version of "if you are happy and you know it clap your hands" He, on the whole, did really good and appeared to be pretty happy up there. While we couldn't get him to dress up for the concert, he did sing and go through the motions, so that made me happy.

After church was cookies and lemonade in the church hall. A good bribe for the kids, I am sure. After that, more relaxation, chicken wings & McDonald's for the Super Bowl and bedtime. All-in-all, it was a great weekend - filled with many fun things - and good memories!

Cleaning his room

One of everyone's least favorite chores around our house is cleaning up. Even mine - I really don't mind doing laundry, but I do not enjoy putting it away :-)

Evan is usually a pretty good helper. The job the night this picture was taken was cleaning rooms and putting away clean clothes. He picked up his cars in his room, jammed all of his clothes in one drawer, and proudly called me up to his room so I could look at it. I was very happy with what I saw. Then... I saw this:

Yup, this is his closet. He had hung up two pairs of undies and two socks. I have absolutely no idea where he got this idea because, no, I do not do this or make my children do this. I couldn't help but laugh, and of course, grab my camera.

The last of the New Years pictures

Here is Evan out ice fishing and doing his favorite thing - cleaning out the holes. Unfortunately this weekend also, he stepped in a hole and got his leg all wet.

This one was a little blurry, but it captures Sage's adventures on the ice - stealing other people's fish and bringing them to Tim. The next few days the guys we were fishing with wised up to his moves and starting to bring him dog treats or catch him smaller fish to keep him occupied.

Emma making a snow angel - or just laying down because she was bored. She wasn't all about the ice fishing at times.

My boys... and Dog.

One more of my little lady.

And the last one just sums up our vacation - relaxation :-)

More New Years pics.

And - my second attempt was successful. More pictures of our vacation during Christmas & New Years.

My Nephew Andrew came up to the cabin with my Mom and Dad for New Years. Here he is trying to teach Emma how to play Chess.

Sage - playing in the snow.

Our Little fishing house on the lake.

On New Years Day, we actually had some snow. Maybe 4-6 inches? The kids loved it and had to play outside.

Emma -

The group out sledding.

Evan -

Tim and faithful companion coming in from ice fishing.

Evan and pomegranite face... (this little guy LOVES pomegranites)

A sunrise (and yes, using another setting on my camera)

Our New Years Vacation

We had the pleasure of taking off the week between Christmas and New Years and spending time at our cabin. We had no big plans other than ice fishing, homework (for me), playing with our new Christmas presents (primarily the kids) and relaxing.



The day after Christmas we headed to the farm to see some cousins & family that were in town for the holidays and from there - it was all about the cabin. Unfortunately, we didn't have much snow right away for snowmobiling or sledding, but we did head out ice fishing a lot. It was so nice to be able to relax after the craziness of the holidays. Emma brought Kit and some of her new dolls, Evan brought some new matchbox cars and Thomas the Train toys, I brought my new camera and homework (blah) and Tim brought Sage -haha!



I don't have a lot of stories to share from this week -as we really just relaxed and watched movies. We spent some time with Tim's family as they were up to their cabins as well. Playing cards, getting together for meals, and being lazy was on the agenda.



Here are some pictures of the week- a lot of picture - with my new camera :-) (a nice Panasonic Lumix point and shoot. Unfortunately my other one broke.)


Emma playing on my iPod. (in sepia, which is a nice setting my camera has)

Evan - playing with Emma's guitar.

Litte Kate

My family and my Grandma & Grandpa

My Dad.

And - a big grrr - as blogger is not letting me upload any more pictures.

More to come.