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Thursday, October 22, 2009

October 2009

This weeks family fun night, we carved pumpkins. It took a lot of time, but it was well worth it. We all had fun doing it.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Austin's 6 Year Old Birthday Party

Austin turned 6 this year!!!
He has changed so much within this last year. He finally got completely potty trained. Woohoo! No more bed wetting! He goes to school everyday all day long. He's grown taller; he's even thinned up a bit. Most importantly, he lost two teeth and learned who the Tooth Fairy is. He really likes the Tooth Fairy!!!
Below are two pictures of him try opening up Grandma Liz's and Grandpa Steve's presents they sent in the mail on his birthday. I had to put them on here, because he refused to have scissors to open them. He kept saying, "NO! I can do it!" He was so funny to watch as he struggled so hard to get them open. But he did it! He got this special hat from school on Friday; I made him wear it. He wore it proudly.


Austin had a birthday party at our place on September 19th, 2009. Three of his friends from school came, Savannah, Sarah, and Sirous. Cole invited AJ, Brendon, and Martin over, too. While we were waiting for Austin's friends to come over, Cole and his friends saw that I had placed a couple of clues around. So they decided to go find all the clues before the scavenger hunt even began.
The first game we played was who can pop the most balloons without popping them with your hands or feet. The time went so fast I was only able to snap one picture. That was fun to watch. They ended up way to close to the house and hammock stand. It got a little scary.



When we finally decided to do the scavenger hunt, Cole and his friends ran to where the next clue was before the clue was done being read. So, the younger kids ran with them...this hunt was suppose to be fun and entertaining and was suppose to last about an hour. The kids didn't even want to do the tasks that they needed to do before going onto the next clue. Which made it very difficult for this game to be fun for anyone. Three of the tasks they needed to do outside were to spell the letters S I and X with their bodies, making one big letter in the grass. I tried to take pictures before they gave up to go running off to the next clue, but I wasn't very fast. So that is what you are seeing in the next few photos.



Well, whatever...I sure had fun preparing for it. After this game they played duck, duck, goose (Austin called it purple, gold, panther), while I was getting the cake and ice-cream ready. After that Austin opened up his presents. He got 5 army guys from Sarah, $5 coupons for McDonald's from Savannah, and a Nerf gun from Sirous. He loved all his presents! I took a couple of pics until my phone said it was too full of pictures...go figure.



After Austin opened up presents we played red light/ green light for some prizes. Then, the kids just ran around and played with each other. It was very fun for Austin and that is the important thing. Next year, though, I think I'll take him to the bowling alley or roller skating. Our house was such a disaster after that. I was extremely exhausted, too.

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Bill got home from work around 9pm. After he got something to eat Bill, Cole, AJ, Brendon, Austin and I played Jail Break in our back yard. AJ and I were the only ones who have ever played that game before. So, we had to teach the others how to play. It was so much fun. Bill, Austin, and I were on a team; and Cole, AJ, and Brendon were on a team. Bill hid out in the open both rounds, but because it was so dark no one could see him. His head and foot was even stepped on and they didn't even notice him. I hid in the trees, and Austin was hiding close to me. The first time we hid Austin was caught first and told them where I was hiding. (brat) They gave up on Bill. The first time they hid, they were all hiding in the same area and had glow in the dark bracelets on. (dorks) So they were pretty easy to find. The second time we hid they couldn't find any of us. Brendon supposedly tripped and went inside cuz he quit. AJ went to the front yard to look up there which left Cole in the back yard by himself. He got somewhat close to me when I said "Woo Woo"! Cole looked all around quickly, looking in every direction. I giggled to myself. Then, he started walking again so I did it again. (hehehehe) He stopped and looked around again and said "What the heck? That's it I'm outta here!" And ran into the house. I couldn't control myself I was laughing so hard. Later, he said it sounded like animals from all over in the woods. Ha Ha Ha!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Bye-Bye Baby Teeth

Bye-Bye Baby Teeth! Austin lost his first tooth on September 03, 2009. He didn't know what the tooth fairy was so Cole told him all about it and what he has to do with the tooth. By the time bedtime came around we all had forgotten about the tooth. Bill had to work late that night, so when he got home I told him. He said the tooth was sitting on the counter. What a horrible mother I am; I forgot to remind him to put it under his pillow! Well, anyways, the next morning I had to work early, but Bill told me the tooth fairy still came and placed a dollar on the counter where the tooth was. WOW! It was pretty funny cuz when Austin woke up he went to get the tooth to show it to Bill and it was gone. He was upset cuz he couldn't find it until Cole said the tooth fairy must have taken the tooth and left you a dollar! Then he was jumping around and excited cuz he got a dollar from the tooth fairy! When I got home from work I asked him if the tooth fairy had come and he said, "yea." I said "well,...what did she give you?" He said "nothing." I said what?! He said "well, I just got a dollar." I said "WHAT?! Are You kidding? When I was little all I got was a QUARTER!" Then, he seemed pretty proud of his dollar and was bragging to me that he got a dollar.

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UPDATE!!!!

Austin lost the tooth right next to his other one today, September 08, 2009 at school. Well, he pulled it out during nap time. He f or got it at school . He told me he can't wait to go to school tomorrow to see what the tooth fairy b rings him this time...I told him I don't think the tooth fairy visits schools but maybe. He said "Yea well I know where I left it and if it's not there I'm gonna tell M r. Sanken to give me the dollar that the tooth fairy left for me; cuz it was my tooth so it's my dollar."
Ha Ha! I can't wait to hear
how that all goes tomorrow.

Renaissance Event

AUTUMN ROSE
GAILSVILLE, WI
09-04 THRU 09-06


On Friday, September 04, 2009 Cole, Austin, Bill and I went to Gailsville, WI to a Renaissance Festival called Autumn Rose. This event went on thru Sunday, September 06. We got there a little before 6pm. We found one of Bill's friends, Willy; and put our camp up right next to his. After we got all set up the kids put their renaissance clothes on. Austin took off right away to look for some friends to hang out with. Cole stayed back and helped Bill and Willy start the fire for dinner. This first picture is of Cole in his peasant shirt and peasant pants (not his full outfit), and Bill in his regular clothes. (The people there will tell you you are naked if you aren't in renaissance clothes.)

After dinner Cole got the rest of his outfit on and posed for me. He looks pretty cool now, huh?! Austin took Cole with him to meet friends. Cole found someone who was 11 to hang out with. This boy wasn't the greatest kid for Cole to be hanging out with, but at least they weren't doing naughty things and getting into trouble.

A little bit later Austin came by with one of his friends. They had battery operated tea light candles. Austin insisted that I take his picture with it. Which was good anyways, so you can see his outfit. He wore a red pirate shirt with black pants. His pirate pants didn't come in time for this event, so he just wore black pants on Friday and blue pants on Saturday.



I did get dressed up and promised a bunch of people pictures of me, but was intending on taking pictures on Saturday. However, I had a tooth that caused serious pain at 3:30am on Saturday. I had to go to adult urgent care in La Crosse to get some pain killers. The rest of the day I spent in the tent sleeping and dying. I got up occasionally to see what others were doing . Everyone else seemed to be doing good; so, I kept on sleeping. So, I have a couple of pictures that Bill took of me at the last event when I wasn't paying attention.





They are the greatest pictures, but at least you can see what I am wearing. Yes, it's a little revealing, but in the hot weather it feels really nice.



Saturday is the day to be there if you ever want to go. This is the day they do all the cool stuff on. In the morning til early afternoon they have sword fighting. I got to see a little fighting when we got back from the hospital. They wear armor and use very heavy swords. I'm not sure they are sharp, but they sure would hurt if you got hit with it. Bill used to fight and wants to get back into it but has no armor. He was talking with another group (kingdom), and invited us to join his group. They said they would provide armor for him and it would be free to join. So, we are now part of the North Shield Kingdom!! (Bill was in the Buddha Kingdom before.)

Also, on Saturday the merchants open up. This is a bunch of shops where you can buy all sorts of things. Such as clothing, jewelery, books, dishes (feast gear), swords...that sort of thing. Austin brought $7 that he had earned and bought a pouch for Cole and himself. These pouches that he bought are normally for the ladies, meant to hold money and whatever else. Austin used it to put his guys and money in it. Cole tied his to the back of his belt. Sometime, Cole wants to get the leather pouches that are made for his outfit and for the men. Austin, also, bought 4 large freezie pops for Cole, and 2 of his friends and himself. Cole bought a mood ring that was 25 cents. Bill bought some pewter platter dishes for 50 cents each. I bought a strawberry milk shake. For dinner you could pay money to eat the feast or make your own food. Bill made steaks for all of us (except me cuz I couldn't chew very well). Next year I hope we will have money so we can go to the feast. It sounded like so much fun. I heard all hooting and hollering and drums and music going on in there. So, not only did you get the feast, but you, also, get entertainment, too. At 7:00pm the feast was over and people gathered around the bigger tents and the party began. This party is so much fun to go to. I went to it at the last event (Poor Man's), but was unable to this time. I asked Bill to take Cole to it so he could see what all the noise was about. This is where anyone who has drums play them with their hands. There is usually belly dancers with all this jingling stuff on their outfit that dance around a fire. At the last event there was even a swordsman doing a dance with his sword. It's very cool to see and is such a blast! There are people of all ages that go to these events. Some travel many hours to go to them. Some go every weekend and others go once in a while. You don't need to know anyone to go to have a fun time. Everyone is there to have a fun time. Everyone is very kind,willing to help you with whatever you need. Many people stopped by our tent to check up on me to see how I was doing. The kids just ran around and played with other kids and had fun. If you ever get a chance to go to one of these events, I recommend that you go even if its just for the day...very cool experience...very cool.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Sandhill




Sunday, June 28, 2009, we went to Sandhill! Sandhill is just outside of Babcock; it's an animal refuge. We drove forever thru this park looking for animals. We went exploring up this big hill, looked out from some towers, and stopped by a pond full of lily pads. In the end we saw 3 deer and a bunch of birds. This was a perfect day to hang out together outdoors!

Slip'N'Slide

I found this Slip'N'Slide at Menards for less than $4.00. Zach and Austin had a blast with it!



They were pretty muddy by the time they got done.

Superman

I just thought I would share this random picture of Austin with you all. This was his superman costume that I bought for him 2 years ago. He swears it still fits, and wanted to wear it to bed. They aren't suppose to be Capri's; they are suppose to be pants! Oh Dear is right!

Wilderness Park

Today, June 13, 2009, was a fun day. Cole was at his dad's, so Bill, Austin and I decided to go to the beach. We, also, took Zackery Jensen (Bill's cousin, Lee's kid).
Austin made some friends and was mostly playing in the water with them; and Zach was playing mostly by himself in the sand. They both had a blast, though.

I was laying out, trying to tan my white body, and Bill was sitting most of the time watching the boys.


All and all is was a fun day!

Car Crash #2

Saturday June 06, 2009, I was driving Austin and myself home from work. I got a bunch of text messages on my way home, and as I was replying to them all, I happened to look up a little too late. A deer was standing in the middle of my lane staring right at me. Stupid deer. Stupid me. I slammed on the breaks and swerved, but I hit the stupid thing. I was hoping I could just drive on home and deal with it there, but as I was just thinking that Austin said "Mommy? What's that noise?" Dang it! It was stuck underneath my car! Needless to say I had no choice but to pull over and look at the damage it had done to my car.


The car really doesn't look that bad, oh, but it was. $3,000 later my car is back to the best it's gonna be. It runs pretty hard, but for me this is the second time it's been in a pretty bad car accident. There was a county cop, who was in the area, that first stopped to make sure we were all okay. He was very nice. He talked to Austin and gave him some police (plastic) hats. They were giving them out at the Marshfield Parade earlier that day, and he had extras to had out. I think he gave us his whole supply. He stayed there until the officer on duty arrived. This officer was, also, very kind. He was very concerned as to who was coming to get me and how long it would take for them to get there. Austin had to go potty, and he was kind enough to let him go along side the road. He was very concerned that we would get hit by oncoming cars; so everytime I got out of the car he was standing next to me making sure I wouldn't get hit. I didn't understand why he kept getting out of his car when I was transferring my items from one car to the next, until he finally told me. I was very pleased with the officers that helped out that day.

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Ukulele


A couple weeks ago we went to Grandpa Steve's.
The missionaries came over with their musical instruments and we listened to Grandpa and the Elder's play. Wow! Grandpa is really good at playing the Ukulele! (But Elder Seabury is a little better...Shhhh! Don't tell Grandpa.) Austin asked if he could try it, and the whole time he was playing it Elder Seabury was looking pretty scared that Austin was gonna break it. It was pretty funny...this little man knows how to ROCK!
Look close at Cole's eyes..

Yep! He's blind! We've been noticing at home that he couldn't see the TV very well; because when he plays video games, he would stand up next to the TV. We weren't 100% sure if he couldn't see or if he just wanted to stand that close. Until his teacher wrote me a note saying he's having problems seeing the chalk board. Well, it was confirmed, and I made an appointment. I was hoping he was faking it, but nope he really is blind. So we went to Shopko and found a pair that both he and I liked and ordered them right away.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009



Shelby Penelope Elvidge
died April 28, 2009

She will always be in our memories and NEVER forgotten.
May she finally rest in peace!
April 18, 2009, was a warm, sunny day, and we took advantage of it by spending the whole day at Dexterville Park. We took the kids bikes to the park with us. We parked the truck, Casey rode CJ's bike, Austin rode his bike, and CJ & Bill walked. On our walk/ride we found a park and a beach. Here are some pictures to show how much fun we had.





Bill hung out at the end of the slide...





Austin and CJ were wearing their swim suits and t-shirts. Both boys got so hot they took off their shirts. But Austin's swim shorts were too big and kept falling down...yes it was NOT a pretty site to see. Thank Goodness we were the only ones there that day.


Casey was hanging out at the bottom of the slide and happened to look up at Bill peaking thru the grate up above...





When we got to the beach,
CJ had this great idea of
burying him...so we did!
And then we buried Austin!

Monday, April 13, 2009


This is "Little" Austin riding his bike WITH training wheels. Wooohooo! Look at that HOT ROD!









Friday, April 10, 2009, Bill and CJ taught Austin how to ride his bike WITHOUT training wheels, while I was at work. We are all very PROUD of our "BIG" Austin!!!!!






This is Austin riding his "2 wheeler" bike! (that's what he calls it)

The funny thing about this is that when he needs to turn, he gets off the bike, turns the bike and then goes again. He did learn how to turn while still riding it a couple days later, but it was soooo funny before that. I did video it on my phone, but my computer won't allow me to download it onto the computer. Maybe someday, you can watch it.

COLE'S Birthday Party was suppose to be at a roller skating rink, but little did we know, it was CLOSED! OOPS! So, instead we all went bowling, and had a BLAST! Momma was the highest bowler for all three games! Way to go MOMMA!!! Friends who came were: AJ, Brenden, Martin, and Geri


After the party AJ and Martin spent the night. We pulled a futon mattress out on the living room floor, and all three boys slept on that. Austin got to sleep on the couch next to the boys. Cole was being so nice to Austin; letting him play with CJ and his friends. We were very thankful for that. The next day Brenden came over to play with all the boys. Ever since that party Brenden has come over almost everyday to play with CJ, Austin, or Bill (on the xbox 360). The cool thing about Brenden is that he will play with whoever wants to play with him.