Marlee is 3!

Marlee turned 3 years old yesterday! Marlee has become a very independent, strong-willed, young lady who also gives the best hugs! She loves all things Frozen, the Lion King movie, reading, and singing. She would do absolutely everything herself if she could. We love you Marlee!

First Day of School 2015

Well, well as you can see I have not been keeping up with this blog since early May!! The summer was busy to say the least, but hopefully with school back in session and routines being reestablished, I can also get back on track. The boys officially started back at school today. Yesterday was an Open House Day where they met their teacher and brought in their supplies. Blake is in 2nd grade and his teacher is Ms. Sandberg. Bennett also had his first day of school today. Bennett is taking one more year of practice in 4K before going to Kindergarten next year. :) His teacher this year is Mrs. Kitchner.

Happy Mother's Day!

So blessed to be a mom to these 3 kiddos! They teach me new things each day about what is important in life. I thank God everyday for blessing me with the most important, best, toughest job I will ever have. Also, Happy Mother's Day to the other moms in my life! /

Bennett is 5!

Happy birthday to a hard-working, passionate, dirt-diggin', little boy! We can't believe you are a "whole hand" old today! We love you!

Govin's Lamb Farm

On our way back from the cities visiting my sister and family, the kids and I decided to stop at Govin's Lamb Farm to see the animals. Blake and I were the only ones who wanted to hold a lamb, but Blake and Bennett both LOVED picking up the chicks. Blake also held a 3 day old piglet, and another batch of piglets was being born while we were there. So cute! We also were lucky enough to see the birth of a lamb while we were there. Marlee was very fascinated by all of the animals, sounds, and smells. She kept saying, "Mom, what is that smell?" and "Stinky." Perhaps next year she will be brave enough to hold some of the animals. We got a ride back to our car on the horse-drawn wagon, and Blake and Bennett were lucky enough to ride up front and hold the reigns!

Destination Imagination

For the past couple of months, Blake and some of his classmates have been working on a mission for the Destination Imagination (DI)program. DI is a program where students are chosen by their teachers to participate in a creative thinking mission with their peers. They practiced once a week after school, putting their ideas together before the tournament, which was held last weekend in Baldwin, WI. The mission for Blake's group was called Animal Mish-Mash. The team had to choose 2 animals and combine them into 1 animal. They had to then make up a skit about their animal and also have a model of the animal. The animal that Blake and his team came up with was called the Sharkinoceros- a shark and a rhinoceros. The team did an amazing job working together and creatively showing the judges what special features their sharkinoceros had. Pictured below is Blake and his team (The Rockstars) following their performance for the judges.

Blake is 7!

This past weekend we celebrated Blake's birthday. On Saturday Blake had a few friends over to go sledding, hiking, and eat lunch. The weather was ideal for coasting down the hill! Sunday was Blake's actual birthday, and while we had made plans to go down to the cabin and do some hiking, those plans changed when I woke up sick in the middle of the night. Yuck! I guess at least it wasn't the birthday boy who was sick. Randy ended up taking the kids to the gym in Mondovi for Blake's basketball practice while I rested. Blake said he had a fun start to his birthday, but he said it didn't end well when the Packers lost in overtime to go to the Superbowl. There were even a few tears shed. :( We love you Blake and are so proud of the creative, kind, and funny boy you've become!

Sledding in the Wisconsin Woods

Jessi, Sophie (8) and Adam (5.5) came over this past weekend to spend the day/night with us before the Christmas break ended. We spent part of Saturday sledding on our land. The kids enjoyed racing down the hill making sure to avoid the trees. :)

December 2014

As 2014 comes to a close I thought I better post an update of what has been happening this past month. Here is December in a nutshell! Bennett had his 4K Christmas program at school, and Blake had his program at the Elementary School. Unfortunately I was sitting so far away from the stage at Blake's program I wasn't able to get a good picture of him singing songs like- "Silver and Gold," "Hot Chocolate," and "Do You Hear What I Hear?" I did get a picture of Bennett in action at his program. We had unseasonably warm temperatures (40+ degrees) for the month of December. We took full advantage of the warmer temps and made sure to be outside as much as possible. While Randy worked late one Friday night, the kids and I went to the Irvine Park Christmas Village in Chippewa Falls, WI to take a stroll through the park and look at the lights and displays. The kids thought the lights were beautiful, and Marlee loved "knocking" on all of the doors of the little Christmas village buildings. We spent Christmas in Alexandria, MN with Grandma and Grandpa Gronos before they head to sunny and warm Arizona for 4 months! Jessi and Tom and their kiddos, Sophie (8) and Adam (5.5) were there too. Unfortunately Erik, Jen and Grady (8) were not able to make it at the last minute due to illness. We sure missed them! Here are some pictures from our days spent in Alexandria. 2014 has been an AMAZING year with so much to be thankful for! We wish you and your family the best in 2015!

Marlee is 2!

Happy birthday to our sweet, spunky, curious, girly-girl--Marlee Maeve! She has brought us LOTS of laughter and smiles with each year! Her favorite places to hang out are in her bedroom reading herself books or taking out clothes from her drawers and pulling out the drawers in the bathroom and sitting in them with her band-aids! We can't wait to celebrate you today!

Halloween 2014

This year for Halloween Blake dressed as The Man With the Yellow Hat from Curious George. However, he forgot his hat at school Friday afternoon and did not have it for trick-or-treating Friday night. Bennett dressed as a bullfighter for his school program and as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for night trick-or-treating. Marlee wore her 8 yr. old cousin, Sophie's, costume-- a pink poodle.

Their First Deer

A few weeks ago Randy and Blake harvested their first deer together bow hunting. Blake sat in his own tree stand along with the safety vest that I insisted he wear! :) Randy still doesn't like wearing them himself.(Still working on that one!)It was a beautiful fall evening, and Blake came back to the house excited that they had harvested their first doe together. Bennett quickly put on his hunting gear to go and help with the tracking process. It will make some great meals for us this winter. Marlee also had to get in on the picture action! :)

Apple Orchard, Animals and Fishing

This past weekend were spent at three of our favorite spots- the apple orchard/ Down to Earth Garden Center and the Mississippi River. ** Apple Orchard/ Down to Earth- On Saturday morning Blake and Randy headed down to the hunting land to do some hunting preparations- setting up a ground blind and checking foodplots. So Bennett, Marlee and I decided to have an adventure of our own by first going to see some exotic animals at Down to Earth Garden Center and then onto the Apple Orchard. Bennett thought it was so cool that one of the animals had his name. (see picture of wallaby ) :) Other animals we saw were fox, tortoises, a dingo, and kangaroo. From there we headed over to the apple orchard where we took a wagon ride, played on the haystack and climbed up in the really big tractor. ** Saturday night was date night for Randy and I, and since it was too hot to go hunting we decided to take the boat out on the Mississippi River and do some fall fishing. The weather was beautiful and the fish were biting. We caught 20 good-size bluegills that will make 3 delicious meals for this winter.