Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Wilderness (which will come to describe several topics in this post)

Last weekend we ventured as a family to the Wilderness Territory in the Wisconsin Dells.  This place was incredible, and a bit overwhelming.  We got a great deal for a two-night stay, which included passes to the several indoor waterparks located right at the resort.  The kids had a great time, but weren't as adventurous as they were when we went to Blue Harbor with my parents.  Probably because this place was ten times bigger and over-stimulating for them!  We all slept in one hotel room, which proved to be a bit challenging, and Nathan got sick on our last night...high fever and vomitting.  But as you can see, fun was had by all!





Last Monday, we hosted an event for our Newcomers Kidsclub.  This is the 2nd topic that I will call a "wilderness."  We had probably 20 kids under the age of 6 running around our house, and around 10 adults.  It was chaos, but it went surprisingly well!  The kids drew on templates which I sent in to a company, and in a few weeks will magically be returned as plates.  We use a company called Makit.  We had to open up our sunporch, which is definately NOT a 4 seasons room, but we had some heaters going...otherwise, I'm not sure that we would've had enough space.  The kids had a blast on the trampoline, so it was probably a good thing that we did open up the sun porch!




And finally, our 3rd "wilderness" adventure...we had our two nephews over for a sleepover this past weekend, and it was just that...WILD!  The cousins always have a blast playing together, and Nathan wants so badly to be a part of the action.  We attempted to have him sleep with the "big kids" but it didn't last long.  Oh well, maybe next time.





Monday, November 8, 2010

Is it too late to blog about Halloween???

It happened again...a blogging rut.  I'm digging my way out...slowly but surely.  This will be short and sweet, just to get my feet wet again. 

We have been busy!  So many Halloween festivities!  My Kidsclub partner-in-crime, Anne, and I planned and executed a Halloween party for the Newcomers group that we belong to.  Look at all the kids that came!



It was chaotic, but that was to be expected!  All the kids had a blast.  It definitely helps that Anne is an elementary teacher by background.  She has the best ideas for crafts!  Here's a picture of Nathan and Anne's daughter Addison...Nathan wasn't quite ready to get into his costume yet.  Love the look...don't you?



Now that the Halloween party is done, we are now in the beginning stages of planning the Kidsclub Christmas party...and, since I'm the Vice President of Newcomers, I also have the responsibility of planning the adult Christmas party.  Luckily, I have a lot of people stepping up to form a planning committee with me.  I have met so many great people in this club.  I really enjoy being a part of it!

Round two of Halloween...




Ella was "Silver Mist" from the Tinkerbell movies.  I wouldn't have known that.  I only hear parts of movies while I drive in the van...I never actually see what my kids are watching.  Is that bad???  We went trick-or-treating with our friends Jodi and Matt and their two boys who also live in New Berlin.  This was the first year that we actually went out with other people and the first year that Ella really seemed to get into it.  And Joe and I have enjoyed the candy.  Thank you Ella!  Nathan mostly sat in the wagon and ate suckers.  He got out a few times and went up to some houses with me.

Halloween weekend was also special because my Auntie Anne and Uncle Bob came for a visit from Michigan.  They stayed with my parents and got to see their house, and our house, for the first time!  My cousin Ben drove in with them and we were able to visit with him for a few hours before a local friend of his picked up him and they both drove to Chicago.  I was so happy to see Ben since he'll be on his way to South Korea to teach English for a year.  He's such an adventurous person.  Ella had a great time playing Barbies with my Uncle Bob. :)

Ella is no longer at Miss Linda's for daycare.  She was the only "big kid" there, since all of her friends left for Kindergarten in September.  She just wasn't adjusting well, so we made the decision to move her to the childcare at the church where she attends preschool on Mondays and Wednesday afternoons.  So far, she seems to like it.  And Nathan is doing great at Miss Linda's without Ella also.  He's able to interact more with the other kids.  With Ella there, she was constantly pulling him away and only wanting to play with him.  Hopefully this will be a good change for everyone!

Nathan is becoming so independent.  His favorite new phrase is, "I do it."  He wants to do everything that Ella does and repeats everything that we say.  (Gotta be careful!)

I'm in the process of finding a medication to help prevent migraines.  I've been on one called Topamax since May, which wasn't helping at all, so just this week I started an additional medication called Nortriptyline, to be taken as well as the Topamax.  I'm just hoping that something will work.  It's getting so frustrating and I'm very discouraged at times.  Ugh.  I just want to be migraine-free!

Well, that about sums it up for now.  We have so many fun and exciting things coming up and I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.