Nutcraker Auditions

August 28, 2010 - MaKayla tried out for a part in this years Nutcracker. You have to complete a full year of dance before being able to audition for a part. You also can only have a certain number of absences for the year. Every girl or boy who tried out gets a part. Of course all the older girls want to be Clara! MaKayla ended up with two parts. She will be a pinky mouse and a candy. We are so excited!

MaKayla is waiting patiently for her turn to audition. Notice her audition number pinned on her. The girls auditioned in private with the instructors without parents being able to view. Probably not a bad idea! Some parents get pretty opinionated on their children's behalf especially when it comes to certain parts =)

House Siding Phase 2

August 28, 2010 - Andy has the back of the house scaffold and has begun the second phase of repairing our siding. Before he starts with repairing the caulk and sanding each long he replaced the gutters.

Noah's 2 Year Photos

August 24, 2010 - Noah's photos are in, YEAH!!!

August 13, 2010 - We were finally able to get Noah's 2 year photos completed!!! This was quite an undertaking! I had to cancel four photo session. 1) In May, Noah had several bruises on his forehead. 2) June 6, Noah fell and cut his eye and bruised it. 3) Trying to keep the mosquito bites off his face was next to impossible! 4) July 26, I accidentally locked Noah in the car. It took over a half hour for the police to get to us and another 5-10 minutes to get Noah out. In the mean time he clawed his face and made it bleed in several places because he was so hot and upset.

We had another appointment set on August 13th at 11am with JCPenny's in Green Bay. The JCPenny's in Appleton does not have a portrait studio. I had to keep Noah indoors most of the week to keep him from being eaten alive by mosquitos and getting any more cuts or bruises on his face. Of course, MaKayla had an off morning and we were running late for our appointment. Not to mention the down pouring rain. While driving to our appointment I called ahead to find out they could not accommodate our tardiness so we would have to reschedule for 4pm. I called Sears to see if they could fit us in and not one answered so I thought I would press my luck and run over there. By the time the three of us entered the store we were all wet and Noah had chocolate down the front of him. I almost started to cry. Sears was totally booked and could not get us in until 4pm either. I decided to call the photo shoot off for the day. We went home, ate lunch and I put the kids down for a nap. After a little time to collect myself I decided I better get the photos done today or it will never happen. So, I called JCPenny's in Green Bay to see if the appointment at 4pm was still available and it was. Next, I washed Noah's outfit. Third, I rested up for the battle ahead.

This time we ended up getting out the door ahead of schedule and the rain had stopped. Things were looking up! We had a great young photographer who was wonderful with the kids. The photo session when as smooth as possible and we were in and out of there in record time. I am so glad that I decided to go ahead and try again!

I thought this photo looked the best in sepia. It gives it an old world charm with the train outfit.
I don't know how she was able to get this photo. He put the whistle up to his lips and threw in all less than a second. Talk about perfect timing!

My handsome boy!

By the time we got to this outfit he was getting tired of his photo being taken. I am glad that this was the last outfit that I put him in.
I thought this was a cute picture of him playing with his trains
Noah's favorite trains: Percy & Chocolate

This is the outfit that I had to wash. I am happy that they couldn't accommodate us earlier in the day because the pictures would not have turned out as good with us being wet and with chocolate on Noah's shirt that I tried to get out using wet wipes. At the time it was a pain but it all ended up being worth it!

MaKayla asked to have her pictures taken as well. I agreed that she could as long as she did it with Noah. Who says bribery doesn't work?

I love this one of MaKayla and Noah on their tummies!

I took advantage of the opportunity to get my photo taken with the kids. I am glad I did! I am happy with the photos and even happier that it is over and we have finally accomplished getting Noah's 2 year photos. Hopefully it will go smoother the next time!

MaKayla's Dance Recital Pictures

MaKayla's Dance Recital pictures finally came in!!! We were not allowed in the room with the girls when they got their photos taken. You could only see through a one way mirror but there was so much going on in there it was next to impossible to see if MaKayla took a good picture or not. I was happy to see that she did great!!! We were so proud of her! She did wonderful for her first recital! We are looking forward to next years!
Here is a picture of her class mates and her. They all did great!

New Table and Chairs

August 23, 2010 - I finally have my new table and chairs setup and decorated for fall. I absolutely love it and it looks so good with the log in the room.
It is made of solid Indian oak and came with two leafs and six chairs. We only have one of the leafs in and the other is stored in the table.

Here is our old set that my Dad and Bonnie gave me over 10 years ago. It was an old set of theirs when they gave it to me so it has seen lots of wear and tear over the years. It has been a good table and was virtually indestructible from the kids. The shiny brass arms, purple paint spot and the pink stain on one chair from MaKayla spilling her Easter egg dye will be missed but we needed an update!

Log Siding Stage 1

August 21, 2010 - Andy started a big task of preserving our log siding. The first step is cleaning it. There is a special solution that he has to spray on to kill the black mold and algae. Then he has to power wash to clean it and remove any loose stain. This is just stage 1. I will keep you updated as he continues on this project. This will take him all the way in to fall and we home to complete it before it gets too cold!August 22, 2010 - Andy is hard at work!

While Daddy was working we were playing. I had to find a way to keep the kids out of his way. MaKayla is a beautiful snowflake princess!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

August 18, 2010 - Extreme Home Makeover was in Neenah redoing a home for the upcoming show this season. It was really cool to see the behind the scenes of what happens in the making of the show. It brought a lot of talk to our next of the woods and made a boost to our economy! I heard nothing but good things about the people and workers of the show including Ty Pennington. The producers of the show took good care of the neighbors by putting them up in hotels and paying for repairs to their yards. They even took a birthday cake and sang to the neighbor across the street who turned 80.

Here is a sneak peek of the home that was built for the Arboledas family. We will be sure to watch the show when it airs this September.

Cleaning the Roof

August 15, 2010 - The project for this weekend was cleaning the roof. It was stained black in large areas from mold, algae and dirt. Andy used a cleaning solution and power washed it.

It is hard to tell in the picture but you could see a distinct line from the area on the left that was cleaned verses the right which was still dirty. It looks so much better now that Andy is done!

Wildlife Park

August 8, 2010 - It was a cloudy day so we decided to go to the Wild Life Park. Noah loved the big rabbit.

MaKayla liked petting the goat until they surrounded her and jumped up to get a snack

Noah wanted to pet the little baby goats

MaKayla loved the baby rabbits and wanted to take one home. She said, "maybe for my birthday". Let me think about it, NO WAY! We just got rid of the fish!

Daddy is feeding the black bear

A new bird exhibit was added this year. You could buy bird sticks and feed them.

MaKayla liked feeding the birds.

Noah did it for a little while but grew bored.

While Noah and I were waiting for Daddy and MaKayla to finish feeding the birds we went outside. Noah occupied himself in this underground tunnel.

Noah is feeding the deer a snack

This was one lazy deer. He just waited until someone came to him with the food. MaKayla was happy to oblige.

MaKayla and Daddy are giving the bear some bear juice. He sure was a messy drinker!

We finished feeding the goats the rest of our critter biscuits

MaKayla talked Daddy into buying her a monkey

Noah picked out a snake

We promised Noah he could ride the train on the way out. Of course he couldn't wait and took the front seat.

MaKayla chose the caboose. I am not sure if she really liked the last car or just wanted to get away from her brother =)

After our trip to the Wild Life Park, the kids wanted to go swimming. With both kids swimming it really takes both Andy and I in the water now. With the sun behind the clouds and only about 74 degrees it was a bit chilly!! Not my idea of ideal swimming weather but the kids didn't care so we took the plunge!

Not sure why it turned my picture this way but you get the idea. Now that Noah is in a toddler bed he won't sleep in a pack-n-play either. We had to take turns sleeping with each kid. Sleep time was a challenge!!! We were all in the basement were there are two beds. However, the kids would not go to sleep unless someone was down there supervising. So I had to lay with Noah until he went to sleep and then sneak back up stairs. Otherwise, he kept getting out of bed and climbing up the stairs. Oh yeah, MaKayla kept scaring her brother by putting a blanket over her head and going over to Noah's bed and making scary noises. One night it took us over 1 1/2 hours to get them to sleep. My the end Andy and I were exhausted!

August 9, 2010 - We spent the morning at the lake before packing up to leave. Noah and I took the kayak out while Daddy and MaKayla swam.

Noah played with his snake outside while I packed and cleaned the cabin.

MaKayla has a monkey on her back. We all had a great time and didn't want to leave!

Noah fell asleep as we pulled out of the driveway! He was one tuckered out little boy!
Fresh air, beautiful woods, warm water and fun will do that do you!

On the way home, we picked up my new table and chairs that I bought while were were up over the 4th of July! Yeah, I can't wait to get them home!