Last 2 week update and Happy Mother's Day

Hi all,


It’s been a few weeks since my last update so here are a few things that have been happening in my life.
On the weekend of April 30th:
Sarah, Kaylin, Shane & Audra came over to visit on Sat. Matt stayed home to do some yard work. Sarah, Audra & I went to our monthly girls luncheon to Louise’s off of Bluemound Road while Kaylin & Shane stayed home with Papa & Sean. Sean came down to visit too YEAH! While we were at our luncheon, John & Shane were mowing the lawn after borrowing Great Grandma’s lawnmower. We store our lawnmower up north during the winter and the last time we were up there (beginning of April) there was still snow on the ground and we just didn’t think that we would need it yet.
Kaylin was riding her bike and playing with Uncle Sean while waiting for Papa and Shane to finish up the lawn. Then they all started picking up all the nails and metal scraps that were discarded by the remodelers on the west side of the house in the mulch area.
Here's some pictures of the kids playing on the rock in our backyard that Sarah & Sean used to play on when they were the same ages:

Back to the luncheon. My sisters Dawn & Denna were there, nieces Stephanie, Elizabeth & Emily too. Emily & her husband Chris live in New Mexico and had driven up for Easter. They were leaving the next day (Sunday) to go back home. We had a nice visit and food was very good. Audra slept all the time we were there, such a good little girl!!

We got back home around 2:30 and then sat around and visited. The kids & Bailey were outside playing with the bubble guns, while we watched and laughed. John and I had to start to get ready at 4PM so we could leave to go to Sheboygan for the retirement party given for our friends Ron & Lynn Mihm. They are our neighbors that have a cabin right next to us up north. They both are retiring at the same time. Lucky them! So Sarah & kids left when we did, Sean stayed home with Bailey and then his friend Chris came over to watch movies while we were gone. Sean was originally going to watch Bailey for us while we stayed overnight in Sheboygan because it’s a hour and ½ drive one way. But we decided to not to stay over up in Sheboygan and save that money for gas to go up north this last weekend. So we got home around 11:30PM and found the boys downstairs with drinks in their hands and watching some shoot’em up movies that only appeal to 20 something year old guys. John went to bed and I stayed up trying to get interested in the movie,(not sure of the name) but I gave up and had enough of the swearing and shooting and explosions. So off to bed I went too.

The weekend of May 6th:
John and I went up north last weekend so we could bring our lawn mower back down and to check on the place. Everything was ok. No snow on the ground and it was a pretty nice weekend weather-wise. On Sat. John & Dewey went to the Little Rice ATV meeting and John was asked to set up a website for the Little Rice ATV club. So next time we are up there John & Dennis will meet and get that started. I & Bailey stayed home and putzed. I made a Mother’s day present for Sarah and I can’t wait to give it to her. I can’t tell you about it yet, because then she will know about it before I can give it to her. We weren’t able to get together for Mother’s day because we came home too late from up north and they had plans to go over to Matt’s parents in the afternoon. So we are going to celebrate on this coming Sat.. Also, this Sat. is Kaylin’s dance recital at Hamilton High School and I am so excited and can’t wait to see it! She’s going to be a mermaid in the sea.

Sean was down this weekend too, and for Mother’s Day he gave me 2 beautiful plants to plant. One is a Honeysuckle vine and the other is a Butterfly Bush. Thank you Sean! I love you!!!
I took some pictues of them:

How wonderful I can’t wait to smell them and see the butterflies !!!
Also my Amsterdam tulips are up and blooming !! I thought there was going to be more of a color variety, hummmm maybe by the the "Mixed Colors" printed on the bag...lol. But ended up with mostly pink & yellow. I guess those were the colors of the day to be packed.

I've planted some "Parrot" style tulips on the other side of the garage, but they are taking longer to grow. They are supposed to be mixed colors also, so we'll see what I end up with.  I will take pictures once they have bloomed.

So that’s it for now,

Hope everyone that is blessed to be a mother had a Happy Mother’s Day !!!!

Have a great week…

Exciting Week ! Celtic Women concert & Royal Wedding

Hi all,
I hope you all had a Happy Easter. We did and it was so nice to see both sides of the family again. 

John and I went to the Celtic Women concert on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.  It was awsome !!! They really do put on a great show.

Today (Friday) is the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.  I took a vacation day to be able to watch it live.  I've always loved the English monarchy and all the history of it.  I was caught this morning watching in comfort right smack in front of the TV.

Here are a few pic's of the wedding, it was just wonderful and her dress is so beautiful. I know I'm dating myself, but she reminded me so much of Grace Kelly.
I did not take any pictures of her arriving, but I have some of the wedding it self and the two of them leaving and the 2 kisses on the balcony.

Queen Elizabeth & Prince Phillip

After the signing of the wedding license

Kate's parents

Kiss # 1

Kiss # 2

The huge crowd at Buckingham Palace

I was just amazed as to the crowd and how well the security controlled them as they made their way to Buckingham Palace.  There was a police line that held the crowd back and then when they got to Victoria's memorial it split and each went around and still kept the crowd from running ahead.  There would have been some mayhem if the crowd would have just been left to run to the gates.  Alot of people would have gotten hurt ortherwise.

Tomorrow, John and I are going to Sheboygan for a retirement party.  Sean is coming down to watch Bailey for us.
Have a great weekend.

Early Easter

First of all I am dealing with a runny nose, scratchy eyes and a bronchial cough for the last few days. I thought I was getting a cold, but I’ve figured out it’s my allergies acting up. I saw on TV that the maple tree pollen count was extremely high and what do you know…our house is surrounded by maple trees ! They finally released their bud husks (which are all over the ground), so I’m hoping to feel better soon until the next wave of pollen comes along.

This weekend the kids came over on Saturday to celebrate our own family Easter. Sarah, Matt & kids will be going down to IL to Matt’s side for Easter and Sean will be on his way home from California with Chris . Unfortunately, Matt had to work at the office on Sat., so he couldn’t attend. Which was kinda in his best interest because John and I are watching Sean’s cat Leo for a week while he’s on vacation. Matt is extremely allergic to cats and can’t be in the same room or even go into a room that a cat has been in without having an allergic reaction. Sean & Leo arrived around 11AM and then Sean took Leo right up to the bedroom without Bailey seeing him. Sarah, Kaylin, Shane & Audra came over around 3:30 PM. Kaylin & Shane were staying overnight so that was extra exciting. We sat down to a nice supper around 5:30 and had a nice visit. Sean left around 6:30 to go to Holly’s house to stay overnight. Holly was taking him to the airport on Sunday so he could leave for CA. Sarah & Audra left around 7PM. Kaylin & Shane were starting to wind down by that time so we got PJ’s on and watched part of Whinny the Pooh DVD. Both fell asleep watching it so John and I took each one upstairs and put them in their bed. They awoke then , so I read “I do it by myself” book and sang “Silent Night” 2 times and they both were sleeping again. They slept through the night and awoke around 6AM. They wanted pancakes for breakfast so Grandpa made Easter bunny shaped ones and they were a hit. OOP's!  I forgot to change that date in the camera again...doing it right now...

Bailey is having a hard time with knowing that Leo is in the upstairs bedroom right under her nose. She’s not going real crazy, but she’s constantly got her nose up in the air when she gets by the stairs going up to the bedrooms. Every time I go into Leo’s room, she’s whining and carrying on then. Hopefully, she will get used to him being in the house, I’m going to see if they can smell each other through the fence I have set up in the hallway. Should be interesting to see if any communication happens….I’m not betting on it…ha,ha.

Sarah, Matt & Audra came over on Sunday morning around 10AM to pick up Shane & Kaylin. They were going over to Bill, Loren & Reese's house to celebrate Reese's 1st birthday. So they packed up and left. The Easter Bunny came to our house too, so they each had a new outfit, coloring books & puzzles to gather up also.
After they left, then John and I focused on Sean and his flight to Dallas Fort Worth airport and then on to Orange County Airport where Chris was going to pick him up. So we followed him as he boarded and landed until he was safely at Chris’ parent’s house. He is going to stay there for a few days until they start back to WI.  As of this writing, they are in Vegas in a casino winning money. Hope they know when to quit and take their winnings with them.
Here is a picture's of Audra in her Easter dress.

It will be good to see everyone this coming weekend for the Easter holiday.  To my sister Denise and her husband Tom's house for the Neumann family's Easter and then to John's brother Chris & wife Dannette's house for the Winters side.
I hope everyone has a very Happy Easter !

Happy Spring !

Well , yesterday was a treat hey ??? 80 degrees..YEAH !! bring it on…. My tulips are coming up nicely, I can’t wait to see them blooming.  It will bring back such wonderful memories of Amsterdam.  I can still remember buying them at the flower market.  John and I went up north last weekend to check on the place. We haven’t been up north since the beginning of February for the Ice fisheree. We’ve been so busy down here with the finalizing of the remodeling downstairs and then the moving furniture and stuff back again which has taken up most of the weekends. We still have stuff out in the garage, but most of it is either going up north, going to Sarah & Matt’s or going to Goodwill. There was Little Audra’s birth, our friend Jenny’s baby shower & my cousin Randy passing away. 
Here is a picture of the snow still on the ground up north in our backyard.  Disregard the date on these pictures, obviously I have to correct that LOL.

Here is little Audra, growing like a weed...2 months now !!



By the way, if anyone is thinking about remodeling , we strongly recommend Crestwood Homes LLC. It is owned by Kurt Raymond and I can’t say enough about how pleased with our remodel project. His number is 414-861-4750. Very, Very nice, professional, knowledgeable & friendly. Here is his website :  http://www.servicemagic.com/rated.CrestwoodHomesLLC.12325935.html


Friday:
John, I and Bailey got up north Friday night around 9:30 and the place is still standing. Unfortunately, there is still about a foot of snow on the ground. We unpacked the truck and got settled in.

Saturday:
John putzed around in the barn getting his new ATV battery installed and did some running around on it down to the lake and back. Dewey stopped by and chatted awhile. Once John came back in from outside, we worked as a team to reverse the doors around on the refrigerator to open up towards the kitchen. We’ve had the place for ten years now, and the refrigerator that was left there by the previous owners had the doors to open towards the living room. Well we did it ! They have been reversed and they now open the right way. I guess better late than never, huh?  John took off with Dewey to go to the Black Bear bar for a ATV meeting. During that time I gave Bailey a bath. Her coat feels so silky again and smells like baby powder. She likes her baths but she doesn’t like the drying off part. After I dry her off she takes off running around the house like a crazy dog, she’s so funny…John came home in the afternoon and then removed the plastic from the patio door. We should be ok now not getting any below zero temps any more. He then went downstairs and copied some of the pictures that are on the computer desktop to his portable hard drive. One file took 20 min. That took the rest of the afternoon to do. We then had supper and were done for the night.

Sunday:
We had our coffee and breakfast and then decided that we were going to pack up early to get down south in the early afternoon. Sean came down to our house and stayed overnight on Sat. I guess just to get away for awhile. He wanted us to get back early to show us how his Blue Ray player & movies looked on our TV. So we got on the road around 10AM and got down here around 2:30PM. Two $80 gas fills for the truck on the way down !!! unbelievable !!!! I guess we just missed the tornado's that touched down in Merrill (north of Wausau) too, WHEW !!!!  It was good to see Sean again and we had a nice visit. He left around 4:30PM and got home safely. Then he calls us not much later to tell us that there were very severe storms going through by him. Thank goodness he got home before all that happened. He is going to fly out to Huntington Beach California next Sunday to meet up with his friend Chris. Then the both of them will be driving back to WI in Chris’ car. Chris and Holly have moved back to WI. Holly is already here, but Chris had to finish up work there in California and had to get his car back here. So Sean is taking a vacation. They are going to make it like a road trip and not rush coming back and take some side trips along the way to see the country. Sean is still looking up touristy things to see along the way.
So, that's it for now, not sure what's ahead for this coming weekend,
Have a nice week.

Nice weekend

Hi everyone,
I know it’s been a while since my last update, just call it laziness I guess. I have good news to report as to the remodeling project…IT IS DONE !!!!! YEAH!!!! We are so very pleased with how it turned out! Here are some pictures…

Last weekend Sarah, Kaylin, Shane & Audra came over on Sat. and then stayed overnight as Matt was up in the Dells at a bachelor party. Sean came down too to visit during the day on Sat. & Sun., but slept at his friend Holly’s house as there was no more beds at the inn, ha, ha…We had a real nice time, but are we (me and John) exhausted !! Those 3 little kids keep you going and Sarah is so tired with not getting hardly any sleep, but just keep holding on, it will get better as she well knows. I don"t know how they (Matt & Sarah) do it.  It must be the age factor.  With not much furniture down in the family room yet, there is quite a lot of playing room there. With the running around, kicking balls, playing tag and Bailey joining in, it was an exciting time for everyone. Audra kept us on our toes too (mostly Sarah) with pretty much every 2 hours needing to nurse. She’s seems to be staying awake more now and looking around and listening to the different sounds. She is just adorable !

Sean has had some great employee awards given to him at his work since he’s been hired last October….He’s gotten 4-servusgrams...1 from Kay (his 3rd level boss), 2-from Tiffany (his 2nd level boss) , 1-from Judi (4th level boss), also has received a  Above and Beyond award from Tiff (2nd level boss), a Employee Engagement award from Tiff (2nd level boss) and a nomination for the Circle of Excellence program from Tiff....which is a huge award given out. All of these awards will sure look good in his employee file. He is going to be going upwards in this company with all the positive feedback from most of his supervisors. I personally think they are grooming him for bigger and better things, but he’s not able to get a higher position until he has been there for a year (Oct.2011). John and I are so proud of him…

This Sunday was a “girl’s luncheon” with my sisters and nieces. Because it was such a nasty day, Sarah & Audra stayed home so I and Kaylin went instead. We went to the Olive Garden and I’m sure it wasn’t the most exciting time for Kaylin with all grownups there, but she was a trooper. The waitress gave her some crayons and an activity sheet to work on. She got pretty most of it done too.. Our girl is so smart !!! For lunch, I had a mixed veggie & grilled chicken/steak plate and Kaylin had macaroni & cheese. We had bread sticks and salad too. Kaylin even had a kiddie cocktail for her drink ! Everyone commented on how well behaved she was and then made the comment…It’s because Sarah & Matt are such a good Mom & Dad. That statement is what every parent wants to hear. That is the ultimate pat on the back when others say that about your kids. It means you have done it right.

As some of you know, John is ½ Irish and because St. Pat’s Day was last Thursday, we decided celebrate the day by making Corned Beef on the grill for supper on Sunday. John thought it would taste so good by cooking it on the grill, so I went on line and found a recipe to cook it that way. It turned out so good! Little Shane couldn’t get enough of it…So we sent some home with them to eat later. We also had baked potatoes, sour kraut, fruit and ice cream or cupcakes for dessert. As I mentioned before, Sarah & kids & Sean stayed for supper and then left for their respective homes. It was a great weekend and do look for more of them in the future.

John and Sean are in a tizzy right now (more John is)…All I’ve heard about every day since last Sunday is when the TV is coming and why is it delayed? We ordered a new TV through Wal-mart. It was the store that had the cheapest price for the Vizio 55" Class LED-LCD 1080p 120Hz Internet-Connected HDTV, M550NV. It was $250 cheaper than if we ordered it on line at other stores sites. So, for getting it at a cheaper cost, there have been a few snafu’s involved which is driving my boys crazy….ha,ha…It was supposed to be delivered between 3/18 & 3/21…John received an email saying that it’s on back haul (what the heck is back haul??) and not supposed to get here until 3/29 (next Friday). It’s in Indiana right now, not sure where it started out from, but John’s to the point of getting in the truck and driving down there and getting it himself….Like dangling a piece of candy in front of his nose…ha,ha…***UPDATE***this afternoon, John got another email saying that it's now in the Wal-mart distrubution center in Beaver Dam and should be at the Delafield Wal-mart tomorrow.  He's very excited !!!

Other than that, we were thinking about going up north this weekend, but now we heard this morning that they are supposed to get 8” to 12” of snow Tuesday through Wednesday. I don’t think it’s going to be melted by the time we would get up there on Friday night. John talked to our neighbor Dewey last night and the snow was pretty much melted up there. Oh well, we will try again another time.

Here is a random picture from the weekend before when the kids stayed over on Friday night.  They were helping me wash dishes.  Kaylin took her clothes off so she wouldn't get her clothes wet...

Hope everyone has a good week.

Happy Birthday John !

Hi all,
John's 53rd birthday was on Friday, March 4th and of course, everytime I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he tells me "I don't know, just having the kids over is fine with me".  So that's what we did. On Saturday, Sean, Matt, Sarah, Kaylin, Shane & Audra came over to the house around noon.  Audra is feeling better and has grown so much since we saw her last.  Sarah & I had a baby shower to go to for some good friends of the family (Jen & Jason Eiler) at 1:30PM so the guys were in charge of the kids for a few hours.  The baby shower was just down the road at Finn's bar (they rent out a room for events) so when Audra got hungry, they called Sarah and she came back to feed her and then returned to the shower.  Sarah & I didn't get back to the house until about 5PM (those showers are so fun, we just lost track of time) so John had already started grilling the meat.  We then ate and had cake & ice cream for dessert.  The kids this time had a little piece of cake and a cup of ice cream to savour.....
We had a nice visit, the kids saw the remodeling changes that have happened so far.  We are still waiting on the carpet to be installed and the fireplace to be set up.  Sean came down for the whole weekend....Yeah!!! 
Matt, Sarah & kids left around 7PM with Kaylin & Shane in PJ's and ready for bed.
Sunday we really did nothing other than read the paper, and visited with Sean some more.  Sean left around 4PM and got home safe and sound.  Leo was so happy to see him...
Have a great week.

Update to my last post

Hi all,
After talking to Sarah today, I was told that my last posting was incorrect as to where Matt, Kaylin and Shane were in the last few days. I had written what I thought that I was told earlier in the month.  So here is the updated version:  Kaylin and Matt's Mom Jane left on Friday to go down to Urbana IL to go to Asher's 4th birthday party.  By Friday, Audra had gotten the cold and Sarah & Matt decided that Sarah & Audra were going to stay home while Matt & Shane went down there to pick up Kaylin on Sat.  During this time Audra had gotten worse and then the decision was made to take her to the hospital. 

I have come to the decision after this mistake that I will only be writing about what happens in importance to me and my life.  If it happens to include any members of my family it will then be mentioned. 
I'm now realizing that writing "half truths" (as I was told) about other people's lives will create alot of miss-information and I certainly do not (and have not) intentionaly wanted that to happen.

Have a nice week