Steve update

Well, I didn't take any pictures this week or weekend....yet, but I wanted to share a little Steve update. (Starting with the fact that he wants to be called Steve.) He is officially 12 and a half, but too old to care about the half anymore. He is over 5'7 and weighs just under 115 pounds. He wears a men's small or medium depending on the top. It still blows my mind to walk into a store like the Gap and realize I have to go to the adults side. There is a kid's store, the Children's Place, at the mall connected to our office building that is closing, and I felt the need to go in and reminisce about buying him button shirts and sweater vests for him there when he was little. I remember when he was in 4 year old kindergarten he went through a phase when he always wanted to be dressed up. He used to ask to wear a tie or vest to school, and when we went to Door County in the winter, he wore the same button shirt the whole time because it was dressier than the sweats and fleece that I packed for outside activities. Steve is now almost done with the 2nd quarter of 7th grade. It has gone by incredibly fast! Steve is handling middle school life with a lot of maturity and has stepped up his responsibility level. He had several big end of he quarter projects last week that he worked very hard to complete. One was a power point presentation of a sports store business plan, one was a biography report on Jesse Owens, and his favorite project was a research report and poster on the musician of his choice. He chose the Ramones & earned an A+! (He did not get the others back yet.) Steve continues to love golf, but is more dedicated than ever! Every chance he gets, he wants to hit balls with Casey at the indoor dome or a nearby heated outdoor drive. They also started open gym golf hours at the high school at 6:30 a.m. three days a week. This is a huge accomplishment for Steve who has never, ever been a morning person. When they finish, he just heads over to school because the high and middle school campuses are connected by a field. Sometimes I feel sad that Steve is growing so fast, but sometimes I am excited to see the nice young man he is becoming....

Once upon a time....

wearing the apron from Grandpa and Grandma while we make lemon poppy seed muffins for Steve

....I had a shy little girl. She was particularly shy of men. But these days, Norah has two volumes in public: loud and louder. And she is not short on words! This weekend we brought Steve to the urgent care clinic in Cedarburg. While in the waiting room, she provided a lot of entertainment. She wore binnoculars on her shoulder like a purse and continually pretended she was going to work. She walked away and when she walked back, she said "Oh, hi Jeanie...." in a really goofy voice. Then she would point at Steve and say "Is that your son Bonnie?" She pointed to the statue of Mary in the waiting room and asked me about it. Then she yelled "She is NOT the same as Mary Had a Little Lamb! Why was Joseph a man? Joseph was not his real name. It is Ga-goo." Then every time I said "Stephan" to the doctor, she would say "That is not his real name. It's Bonnie."

This past weekend Pops came over to watch the Packers wild card playoff game and she never stopped trying to hold his constant attention with silly antics! Everywhere we go, I laugh so hard. She cracks me up all the time.

Winter vacation....

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday! Our family was signed up to be greeters at church on Christmas day. After opening presents from Santa, we went to the beautiful holiday service. I love to see the church decorated and listen to the traditional carols. Then we went to Gramps and Judes cabin to exchange gifts and visit with Sam, Jessie and Nic. (Poor Sam and Jessie had a hard time getting back to Boston with the big snow storms out east!) Then it was on to Grandpa and Grandma's Christmas day dinner. We exchanged gifts with them and Shelly and Dan before the extended family arrived and had a chance to catch up with Sarah about how she and Adam were spending the holiday in Oregon. Norah always has a great time with her cousin Reese. Grandma set a table for just the two of them, but I am pretty sure Norah only ate potatoes (and maybe a little salad) before they were off playing again! I did not have my camera that day so I hope to get pictures via email soon! On the 27th, Stephan went to winter camp at Camp Matawa for a fun filled few days of tubing at Sunburst ski hill, archery (see above), cross country skiing, sledding, baking cookies, a New Year's Eve Eve Eve party and more! The camp posted a few pictures of the kids on their facebook page so we could keep up with the action.

Here the kids had made toboggans out of boxes in the camp's first toboggan making competition and race. Unfortunately, the 4 days ended up on a bummer of a note. Toward the end of the last day, a girl got upset with Stephan because she thought he bumped her on purpose after cross country skiing and hit him in the head with her ski pole. (Even if he had bumped her on purpose, why would someone react that way?) Stephan also had a fever when I picked him up. He has been sick for a few days now, but has been able to reflect on more of the fun activities at camp. We have no snow left after a very warm NYE (it's freezing again), but I hope we get more soon. I'd like to go snow shoeing with Steve.

On NYE, I ran in the Run Into the New Year 10k put on by the Racers Against Childhood Cancer. The group puts on a series of winter runs, and I hope to run in two more of them. Although, we were spoiled on this day with 50 degree temperatures! I ran in 56.06 minutes, which is faster than my time of 57.54 at the Shamrock Shuffle 10k last year in Madison. (Although, this course was flat unlike the Madison race. I felt better overall though.)

It was a raining day though and the kids had more fun staying with Grammy while Casey went to the State Fair grounds to meet me at the finish line. Well, Norah had fun; Stephan just slept on the couch :(

It was GREAT to see Casey at the finish line! He was in a spot that wasn't too crowded so I actually spotted him. I appreciated that he stood there in the heavy drizzle to wait for me.

This is Norah (painting). She likes to be silly. She likes to make goofy faces. And whenever possible, she prefers to use comedic voices.

She is sleeping in the picture, but it didn't start out that way. She thinks it's a riot to pull her hat down over her face. And on this day (Christmas actually) she fell asleep that way! (Yes, there are holes so she can breathe.)

Christmas Eve

We had a fun filled Christmas Eve with all the grandparents, Uncle Nic & Aunt Jessie. Arriving at varying times in the afternoon, everyone came to our house for appetizers and dinner. Pops and Liza brought leg of lamb--yum! We also exchanged gifts with them and Grammy.

Norah, Liza and her Groovy Girl. (Her name changed several times this evening, but she already earned a spot on her bed!)

Norah loved the vintage Ginny doll from Grammy. I have three Ginny dolls left from my childhood that Norah plays with regularly. She was excited to add a new friend to the tea party bunch, especially a nurse since Norah regularly says wants to be a nurse or doctor when she grows up. (Or a "hair cutter.") That is one of her favorite pretend play activities too.

Stephan is at an age where he wants clothes, especially sweaters. That is all he asked for Christmas...sweaters. He is really growing up :)

We gave Pops an Irish soccer hat. I think he liked it! :)

I ate WAY too much food, especially the gingerbread pumpkin trifle I made. After dinner, the kids went to bed right away so Santa could come. Casey and I made a fire, listened to music, and finished wrapping the kid presents. We are blessed to have such a big family and have so much for which we are thankful!

Follow the Star

All of these pictures are dark and blurry...sorry about that! I had not replaced my memory card yet and Stephan's camera is not good in low light. Above is a picture Stephan took as the sun went down during a recent shopping trip in downtown Cedarburg. That morning after Sunday school practice, Norah and I had a fun shopping day in Cedarburg. She was so helpful and patient in all the shops. She let me hold her in the shops where I was most fearful of broken glass. I gave her the job of opening the door at each shop (she loves that) and did also promise we would end up sitting at one of the cute tables at Ashley's sweets shop and that she could pick out one special item. (usually a chocolate covered pretzel) The sky was full if big, soft flurries and it looked magical against the backdrop of the Christmas decorations up and down the main street. Later that day, Stephan and I had a shopping trip together. It was fun to hunt for the santa ornament he would enter into the Young/Eaton family ornament contest. It has to be a santa, cost less then $10, and be an actual tree ornament (not another decoration with a make shift hook). Stephan went to four stores. It was hard to find one under $10, our favorites seemed to be $12-14. He finally found the perfect one & came in first runner up in the contest! Not a bad showing for the first year. When we passed the florist in the picture above, he said "That looks like Christmas." The picture doesn't quite capture it, but the whole street twinkles and glows. I love it! I also accomplished my goal of buying everything local or handmade. I bought a few handmade items from etsy, but everything else was purchased in Cedarburg or Mequon. (Casey bought things from elsewhere though...we split our long list for shopping.) Have you heard about Project 3/50? It's the idea that if you shop at 3 favorite local stores and spend $50, you can help save local businesses.

The next day was finally the day of Norah's Sunday school Christmas show "Follow the Star." They sang four songs, played the bells, and some of the older children read and acted out parts of the Christmas story. During the rehearsals, I stayed out of sight because I distract her. It's actually quite hard for me to teach the 3rd graders because she wants me to be in her class. During the actual show during the church service, she spent the entire time waving to us in the audience! Grandpa and Grandma came too. I hope they could see her...it was a packed house!


All lined up and ready to go on stage....

Preschool Christmas Open House

Every year, Norah's school hosts an open house before Christmas. They decorate the school with cute Christmas and winter art made by the kids, a tree with ornaments made by the kids, paint faces with snow flakes, sing songs for the parents, and most exciting of all, Santa visits! (Yes, they also learn about Kwanza and Hanukkah. They made paper kinaras and menorahs that were on the wall in her class.)

Getting ready to sing Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Jingle Bells, Rudolph, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Norah was excited to see Santa. She said she did not know what she wanted him to bring her, but in the end asked for a book. (She also announced to anyone within earshot that she had to go #2--only she didn't say #2--right before she sat on his lap. I bet he was a little nervous!)

The day before the open house, I made two trips to the doctor with the kids. One was a planned appointment for Stephan and then we returned with Norah who had an ear infection. Poor peanut...she did not appear sick and had no fever, but she woke up from nap at school, she cried about her ear. She never cheered up so her teacher called because this was so unlike Norah. Sure enough, she had an infection. The receptionist at the doctor's office was surprised to see me return! Both the kids were measured by professionals and not wiggling against my kitchen wall so it was confirmed that Master Steve is 5'7. He also weighs 113 pounds now. I have no idea where he puts it. Norah weighs 34.5 pounds and stands 37.5 inches tall.

Last night was Casey's company holiday party. As usual, Joe and Lisa threw a lovely party at their home and a nearby restaurant. Fun was had by all, especially the kids who stayed at their house with a few high school age kids of Casey's coworkers. When I said that Norah could stay up, I never imagined we would get back at 11. The dinner was wonderful, but long. After we had been sitting, chatting and drinking for a while, I realized that we had not ordered dinner yet. Oh well, she loved every second of the attention from Helen and Sarah. Norah LOVES to spend time with big girls.

Little updates

(I have no idea why the blog looks the way it does...I emailed the woman who helped me make it to find out what happened.)

We are enjoying the snow and countdown to the holidays. There are many fun activities in Cedarburg like the community tree lighting, Christmas in the country, festive Friday eves, and visits from Santa. Our tree is up and decorated and the house is lit up outside. And Norah will be very sad when they stop playing Christmas songs on the radio. She loves to sing a long.

I took pictures of the community tree lighting and our time meeting two of Santa's deer, but the memory card for my camera mysteriously disappeared. It was a wet night, but we brought Stephan's friend a long for the fun and hot chocolate at our favorite local coffee shop Fiddleheads. (There are three independent coffee shops in a two block stretch with two of them right next to each other. When we moved here, I wondered how they could all survive. They all do really well though and have their own loyal customer base. It's hard to get people to stray from their favorite. My friend Megan only drinks at the Cedarburg Roastery and my friend Carrie prefers the Java House. And even though the Starbucks on the edge of downtown does very well--we do go there too--these three shops thrive, which is great. And probably more than you wanted to know, but we're big on coffee shops in our family. Once when Stephan made a map of where we live for a pen pal project at school, Blockbuster and the coffee shops made the map! The kids both LOVE to go to "the movie store" with Casey and sometimes pick out a muffin at the coffee shop.)

Stephan has been a social butterfly. He is getting to be at he age when he wants to talk to his friends all the time. There are kids in middle school who love to hang OUT as in anywhere not at someone's house, wandering around, and probably doing what is considered loitering. (And I know through Steve that they get into a lot of trouble too.) Fortunately, Stephan's buddies are not like that. They are all sort of cute and nerdy in an endearing way (don't tell him I said that--he wouldn't get it) but are happy to be at our house/yard or the house/yard of one of one of his friends. I have trouble with him growing up (and he is literally GROWING and now 5'7!) and would not handle it well if he was one of the kids who left and went who knows where! He is looking forward to winter camp over spring break. His summer camp hosts winter camp with a trip to the ski hill for tubing, indoor archery, and a "New Year's Eve Eve Eve" party!

Norah is excited for her two Christmas shows--one at her school open house with a Santa and Snow Fairy visit and the other at church. They have four rehearsals over the next two weekends at church which thrills her. She loves to be on stage. I have been teaching 3rd grade sunday school and I am excited to see our show, Follow the Star, come together.

I love to watch Norah's learning process blossom before our eyes. Her reading (probably recognition) and spelling of small words continually expands. She can spell all the names of the people (and dogs) in our immediate family too. When she looks at book titles, she figures out which word is which because of the first letter of the word then those words are added to her reading (or recognition) list. I feel like we can see the wheels turning in her mind!

The Little Updates post turned into a long one! I hope to have new pictures tomorrow...maybe with Stephan's camera if I don't get out to buy a new card.