Cousin time with Hayley & Jenna

Before we left for our vacation, we had a chance to visit with Casey's Aunt Karen, Cousin Shauna and her daughters Hayley and Jenna who traveled from Nebraska. Hayley celebrated her 3rd birthday in Milwaukee. Norah and Hayley had a lot of fun together, and Norah still asks to play with Hayley. Hopefully we can all see each other again soon!

Make a wish!

Fairy princess time!

George

A picture that Pops took of Norah entertaining a crowd...this was either when she said "I have a mommy and a daddy" or when she sang "Old MacDonald."

Wow! I have not blogged in a LONG time...almost a month. I promise that vacation pictures are coming. As we approach Norah's 3rd birthday, I have been thinking about what she has been up to these days.

Norah LOVES ballet. She likes to dance in general, but she is particularly excited about ballet and cannot wait for her next class to start. She regularly asks to perform a ballet show for us and flutters around the house. She does it with the most serious look on her face too. She also enjoys singing non-stop (this is how she entertains herself on car trips!) and recently told Casey she wants a stage for her birthday. When he took her to jump in the fountain at Bayshore, she didn't pay much attention to the water and climbed up on a stage instead to sing "God Bless America" for anyone who would watch. I should also add that every day she asks to ride her bike and paint.

Norah is very observant and in ways that I don't always notice. For a while now she has thought it was fun to look for letters in the signs of stores and tell me names that start with those letters. Well, yesterday, I was on the Kohl's Department Store website checking their hours when she walked by and said "Let's go there." I asked "Where?" And she said "Kohl's, Mom!" I asked her how she knew it was Kohl's on the website, and she said "K is for Kennedy. It's next to Michael's and Costco!"

I am almost afraid to say the words because I feel like I might jinx myself, but let's just say that Pull Ups are not on my shopping list. On one of her most "victorious" days during the process, I told her I was proud. She replied "Mom, I always knew I could do it!"

To say that Norah is excited about her birthday is an understatement. When we left for vacation, I told her that when she went back to school it would be August. That morning, when I woke her up for school, I reminded her that it was now August and they would have a new calendar during calendar time. She said "August?!? It's my birthday!" She knows it's the 25th, but everyday between now and then she reminds us that it's her "birthday time." Some people have a weekend. Some people have a week. I guess this little girl wants a whole birthday month! She can't wait to be three. During our vacation she said "Awww, I'm becoming a grown up now."

Camp Matawa

On Friday night we picked Stephan up from camp. I had been looking forward to the closing campfire all week. He is Mr. Camp! He is totally in his element there and it brings out an incredible confidence in him. He knows everyone and never holds back. We were surprised during the campfire when they called Stephan up to present him with the Golden Arrow Award for archery. He was also recognized for being part of small groups of kids who woke up extra early every morning to play soccer. During the week, he took classes in archery, field sports and the rock climbing wall. He was able to climb the wall (many times) on all three skill levels so when he returns to camp, he can try the 50 foot alpine tower. When we got home, Casey asked "Aren't you actually glad to be home?" Stephan replied "No, I could have stayed 2-3 more weeks!" He hopes to be in the counselor in training program when he is older and eventually work there.

There were lots of World Cup related games and activities during the week because it was the final week of the World Cup. They played a giant Capture the Flag game with several international flags instead of just two plain old rags. There were international flags in the dining hall, and supporters of Spain and Germany planted their flags around camps. There are always a handful of international counselors, and this year with one from Spain and one from Germany, there was A LOT of friendly competition. I loved the moment during the campfire in the picture above...one of the counselors led the kids in singing the World Cup theme song, which they had learned during the week. The words are symbolic to the goals and spirit of camp.

Stephan proudly showing us his compass badge. Every session a camper attends Matawa they have a chance to earn activity and character patches for their badge.

Back at home in one of his birthday presents...England's World Cup jersey. This is one of my favorite pictures of him ever. He looks so much older though!

Happy Birthday, Stephan!

After a winning soccer game. He had just bought that French ball...one of his favorite belongings.

We can't believe that our "little man" is 12 today. Stephan, Steve, Steverino, Buddy, Partner, Munchkin Man, Monkey Man....and as Norah calls him about 98% of the time..."brother."

We are lucky to have him as our son. He is sweet and loving, still wants to hug us...even in front of our friends, did very well in school this year, really cares about the world, and this week is showing his adventurous side at camp.

12 things that Stephan loves at age 12 (other than the "big things" in life)....soccer, Xbox 360 live, World War II history, paintball/airsoft, movie planning and scene shooting with the video camera, golf, cars, tv comedy (SNL, the Office, Chuck, etc.), Band of Brothers, discovering new music and downloading songs, eyewitness type books, and the outdoors...kayaking, hiking, exploring, building forts in our yard.


We cannot wait to say happy birthday to him in person when we pick him up at camp on Friday night. I love the parent campfire night. It is a lot of fun to see him be excited and in his element. At times, Stephan can be shy, but when we hang back (or are not there at all), he jumps in, makes friends and is not afraid to try new things. I think on every vacation where we have stayed in a hotel or been on some kind of tour, Stephan left with new friends or tried a new activity like climbing a rock wall. Camp is no exception. I cannot wait to see the big smile on his face on Friday night and hear him sing new camp songs on the top of his lungs!

Norah update!

Taking a quick break from trying to catch fire flies...

I have not done a Norah update in a very long time. I cannot believe that in a little over a month our peanut will be three! Norah is just shy of 32 pounds and a hair over 37 inches tall. She wants to do everything by herself. And she will let you know that if you try to intervene. Getting dressed, climbing in her car seat, you name it...she wants to be independent! Norah sings all the time. When we drove to Door County last week, she sang to herself all the way there and back. Her new favorite activity is to ride on the John Deere with Casey. He bought her headphones to block out some of the noise and said she just sings the entire time. And when she is not singing, she is dressing up like a ballerina and making up little dances. She loves to dress up and be girlie with purses and lipstick, but more than anything, she wants to be outside, getting dirty and exploring. Norah is still very happy at school. She has the sweetest teachers and she reports back a lot about group time. I think I have said before that she gets very excited about "calendar time" (learning about the month, day of the week, the weather, etc.) and that is still true. She pretends to be a teacher at home and that is her favorite lesson to share. She can also spell a list of little works and read a few very basic ones. Norah gets a kick out of pretending to be a mom, a teacher or a mom who is also a teacher. She gets her purse, slips on one of our pairs of shoes, finds a coffee cup and pretends to be going to work. We have to play along and ask when she will be back to "pick us up," how her day was at work, etc. I decided to get her a charm bracelet for her birthday and every year I will pick a charm that reminds me of something she loves. After a lot of google searching, I actually found a charm of a little girl on a swing! That is her very, very favorite thing.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! This is my absolute favorite holiday. We watched our third parade in Cedarburg. Pops & Liza joined us too!

We were so excited to have Uncle Elliot in town from Oregon by way of DC!

In this moment Liza said that Stephan told Norah he would miss her when he was at camp. She has been missing him a lot and it has not been a full 24 hours yet. She tears up every now and then and asks us to "go get brother."

We set up our chairs and cooler in our usual spot. It was a little tighter this year, but the kids found an open spot on the curb perfect for his candy collecting.

I forgot my camera when we went to the fireworks! Norah enjoyed walking to the park in her wagon and curling up on a blanket for the big show.