XMas Eve

A tradition for our family on XMas eve is to trek up State Street to visit the WI capitol's XMas tree. Lots of fun and crazy pictures taken this year...this is just one.

Xmas Cookies

Marley helped too!

Still wanting to Slide/Swing

Kit and Katie had to cut playtime short....Why don't kids want to wear mittens?

The First Cut....Mullet Be Gone

All it took was an electric toothbrush and Kit sat still for 5mins. while Grandma finished her first haircut. We're on the way to a blonde bob and we can't wait for the front to grow-in....That's one of Kit's wishes for the New Year; fill-in her Finley hairline:)

Santa's Kiss Goodnight

The first meeting with Santa

We had to wait in line for 15 minutes (with her cousin Bailey) to see Santa, and Kit was having none of that! She tried and tried to make a bee-line to that man the entire time. When it was our turn Kit decided not to say hi, smile, or be excited. She just sat quietly on Santa's lap and eyed-up the cookies Mrs. Claus was holding. She loves pictures of Santa & Frothy (Frosty) and I can't wait to watch her open gifts, be around all our families, and eat more cookies than she's supposed to. We're looking forward to Kit's second Xmas!

Blizzard #1

Kit's first real snowstorm....she didn't want to come back in the house, but she wouldn't keep her mittens on.

Marley & Me

Making Memories...

Thanksgiving 2009 started with the Berbee Derby and ended with a 9 hour shopping extravaganza which started at midnight on Black Friday!

Deck Me Out....

Photo Session

Had some fun on Saturday taking pix of Kit for her 2009 Xmas cards. She had 3 outfit changes, tried to eat 8 ornaments, and devoured about 5 spritz cookies....all in a days weekend work:)

One Year Ago....

Time flies........FYI-the Finley hairline has since started to fill-in, so there's less reason to use the spaghetti wig:)

The Chicken ate some Candy

Kit & Roen.....parade, candy, more candy, trick-or-treat, even more candy, meltdown....

Happy Halloween!!

One of Troy's first pumpkin masterpieces...took no less than 5 hours. Funny that I sometimes wonder why it takes sooooo lloooooonnnnggg for big jobs to get done around the house:)

Pumpkin Party

Bailey's Birthday/Riley Pumpkin Carving Party is another Fall tradition.....We all look forward to it! Troy usually carves a fantastic pumpkin, but succumbed to other responsibilities and lack of planning. Why does he always start carving at 9pm the night before?! It's always fun to get together at Tim & Deb's cuz they know how to make everyone feel welcome and always have good munchies and beer:) Kit & Kelsi drew on their chalkboard painted pumpkins and had a fun-filled first pumpkin carving party. Can't wait for the many more.....

Eventhough it's Freezing...Let's go Get a Pumpkin or Two

Looks like we may have a tradition here.....pumpkins & apples & animals at Pecks. At least we know that every year will be a little different based on the weather. Last year was 80 degrees and this year 40 degrees! (Kit's first time wearing her winter coat which was a super cheap score at the Big K....:) We're going to spray chalkboard paint on our pumpkins this year, at Bailey's Pumpkin Carving Party, so the little ones can write on them.....and be as creative as they want to be. Oh yeah, the apple crisp wasn't too bad either. It might be better than my Mom's?!

And Then She Ate....

It seems that everytime we sit down for supper Kit looks at the food, tastes it, then decides it's much more fun to run around the table, go find Dante, or just get up and down off the chair. I had no idea meal times would be sooooo frustrating and almost hurt my feelings. Why won't she eat what I cook?! I've been making a decided point to master the art of trying to get a good meal on the table so we can all eat together and she wants no part of the plan. But then....I made cheesy potatoes....the ones with so much butter, cheese, cream o' mushroom soup in them that you almost don't know you're eating a potatoe. And she ate them, and ate them, and stole them off Troy's plate, and didn't get down until there was a hell of a mess and she couldn't eat anymore. In between bites of potatoe she even ate some pork and I almost fainted. So....it looks like these damn potatoes will be a part of many a meal at our house.

End of Summer

The 10 best things about Summer of '09:

1. Kit turned 1! Big day and big party...lots of fun; she can't wait until the next one.
2. The Park....'nuf said.
   
3. Milwaukee's Zoo....the coolest zoo yet and we didn't see 1/2 of it! Roen, Brody & Kit had lots to look at. Definitely going back. 
   
4. Vilas Zoo....sooooo many people got "Hi's" from Kit that day. Troy helped her measure her wingspan in the photo below. 
5. Ice cream at the new shop downtown. Kit doesn' t have a favorite,  but she's had her fair share of Blue Moon.
6. Kit's outdoor playhouse....she's still fascinated with the doorbell, but there's so much more play-potential this shack has which she'll realize next summer.
7. Watching the puppies across the street from our front door. She's a regular talking barn-yard now....mooing, ruffing, heeing, baaaing if you ask her to:)
8. Helping Mom, Dad & Grandma water the flowers with her own duck watering can. 
9. More teeth arriving weekly....good for her in the long run, but we all miss the sleep when they're popping through.
10. We're one step closer to Halloween......a chicken or a princess????? Big dilemma.

Grandpa Gundlach

One of my favorite people ever.....and am sure that if he had gotten the chance, Kit would have been one of his.  He helped create one super cool family which I'm glad I somehow get to be part of.  Miss him often and much.

The Park

We're at the park a lot. It's easy to get up & go before or after supper to make sure Kit gets her share of outdoor time. I know it's only September, but I'm already worried about the long winter and how we're going to miss being outside. It's not the greatest park around, but it's got everything we need: a swing, merry-go-round, a slide Kit can climb, and some bushes to play hide-n-seek around. She's gotten a little fearless this week and started to go down the slide on her belly backwards.  Kit thinks this is hilarious and I think I can even sense a bit of pride when she realizes she just went down again successfully. Sometimes I wonder if she gets bored that we keep bringing her back here...but, then I remember that it's one of the only parks in town with a water fountain which is a toy on its own:) 

Ummm...Tasty!

Mark & Todd are on their way to making a legitimate salsa with a legitimate label....the chips, the beer, and the party are not included. One of the best salsa's out there. Made with 100% Wisconsin tomatoes & peppers from both gardens. If you start seeing this at your local supermarket, remember...you saw it here first!

The Fair

Two days at the Fair for Kit! She had fun and took good naps afterward. She loves giant slides, sleeping pigs, and funnelcakes. Next year we can't wait to go on the flying airplanes....we heard the circus comes to a nearby town on September 16th. Just in time for Troy's birthday. Yippee!

The Introduction

We are a family of three......minus the moose, a dog we gave away, and a cat that keeps coming back after we let it outside.