Friday, November 30, 2007

Baby, it's cold outside

What would you do if your furnace went out and it was 17 degrees outside??? Luckily, we have 2 furnaces and only the one that controls the front of the house had a problem. Still, it was a little chilly in the front half of the house. What did I do while I was forced to stay home and wait for the furnace guy??
Bake cookies, of course...


and try my hand at making homemade applesauce....my Dad had given me about 25 golden delicious apples at Thanksgiving, so I peeled, sliced and cooked them and they only made this much applesauce....but there's a lot of love in that applesauce!!


We watched the Packers vs. the Cowboys last night too...had some friends over that were dressed quite festive....loved the cheesehead!



and someone was a very good sport about watching the game...


by the end of the game, someone looked like this...


The game didn't end like we wanted it to but that's OK, we had fun watching it. We stayed up WAY too late....my boys are going to be tired today...good thing it's Friday!!!!! Jill

Thursday, November 29, 2007

The Sleepover

A few weeks back Luke had his belated birthday party. This was a very special party because it was a "sleepover" party. As many of you know, the Petersons don't host sleepovers too often because we, well, LIKE TO SLEEP. So it was an exciting day for all... Here are a few pictures of the crew that came over. We had Pizza Hut pizza for dinner....


John came to the rescue and played a few games with them in our "gym".


We had a delicious Oreo cake from DQ.


and the kids went to bed at a decent hour, and slept until 7am...hooray!! I might consider a sleepover again...... next year.... Jill

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Works for me!

Ben recently had a birthday and I got this for him...


What an interesting book. I know it has been pretty controversial because it tells you that every boy needs a pocket knife, book of matches, etc. We have chosen to ignore that part and there are some really neat chapters on "how to play table football","making a paper hat, boat and water bomb, " 5 knots every boy should know" and then there's the chapter on "Girls". The chapter on girls is approximately 8 statements long. My favorite is... "avoid being vulgar. excitable bouts of windbreaking will not endear you to a girl." I laughed so hard~

I know Ben spent an hour and a half the other night making the paper water bomb...that's a GOOD thing! Maybe you could buy this book for a boy you know.... Jill

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Trimming the tree.....

Can you believe that we had absolutely nothing to do last night??? The kids were hounding us to put up the Christmas trees the night that we got home from our Thanksgiving travels. To tell you the truth, I just didn't have the energy after unpacking the car and starting the laundry. So, last night was the night!!! We have a big picture window in the front of the house so we always put a tree there. It's sort of our "formal" tree. Because it's in the front of the house, it's protected from the chaos. In other words, the breakable and fragile ornaments go on this tree. John and the kids enjoyed decorating- I just snapped pictures and enjoyed the Christmas music in the background.





All was going beautifully until someone thought an ornament was a bright, shiny ball..



Well, here's the finished product....


When we muster up enough energy and Christmas spirit, we'll put up the "family tree". You know the one--the one with all of the paper plate ornaments and adorable sunday school crafts. But we'll leave it in the box for now.... it's still November, for goodness sake!!! Jill

Monday, November 26, 2007

Road trip to Illinois and Iowa

5:30 came very early this morning.... the long weekend was great, but I would like to sleep until 7:00 every morning. On our long weekend, we ventured down to visit our relatives in Illinois and Iowa. As usual, we got enough to eat....




yes, that was a bib that G-pa Walt had on....he said at his age, spills down the front of his shirt are very common. :)

Anna was in girlie heaven because gramma Sue got out the boxes of barbies and barbie clothing...



We did a little of this...and Gramma Ellie "pulled a hammie"- not fun!


Saw my childhood home... you could call this photo a "drive by shooting" hee, hee


Saw the "H" bridge...we know we're close to Grandparents Peterson when we see this...



but most importantly, we got lots of Gramma and Grandpa lovin'...great grandpa lovin' too...

(Jill's Dad)


(John's Mom)

Hope you had a GREAT Thanksgiving too! Jill

Thursday, November 22, 2007

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!! Just wanted to show you what happened at our house last night.



This is Bella's first snowfall. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that cold, wet stuff. For awhile, she sat next to the door, the only part of the patio without snow.
She watched Annie (our older dog) and soon she was out frolicking in the snow and running laps around the house at top speed. John switched on the light behind the house and laughed when he saw all of the doggie snowprints going in circles in the backyard.


Now go have a great day with your family and friends.......Jill

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

All dressed up

We received a phone call from a friend on Sunday morning at 8:30 inviting Anna and I to go to a ballet performance at noon at a nearby art center. It sounded like a fun, girlie thing to do, so we met them there. Here are Anna and my friend's daughter...great friends since they were 18 months old!! Some people there thought they were twins!!!


A ballet school from Milwaukee gave a wonderful performance, and it was just the right amount of time for lots of young little girls to sit and watch...45 minutes. The dancers wore beautiful costumes and had quite a bit of variety to the show. After the performance, the girls had apple cider and cookies and then headed over to a hallway with fun activities!! They had their faces painted...



Visiting a room that had some actual costumes from the show was very interesting. I can't believe the detail that went into each and every costume. Also in this room was something that pretty much grossed me out, but the girls seemed to love it. They had a chance to take home a used and worn out ballet shoe (cement toe and all).
Little did we know that in the next room we ere able to decorate the shoe with all kinds of beads and markers--fun!! The also had more crafts....


A momento that was very special to Anna was a picture that she had taken with a real ballerina after the show. (Wish I had a scanner to show you the Polaroid!) What a fun afternoon to spend with your daughter and with good friends...we had a blast!! Jill

Monday, November 19, 2007

ATTENTION

ATTENTION....attention, everyone. The Peterson family has a new TEENAGER in the house as of today....


This fine young man was born on this day, thirteen years ago. As I recall, it was a crisp Fall day and gramma Ellie was getting ready to leave and go home (back to Iowa), and Jill's parents were on their way to visit and help with Andrew (then 2 yrs. old) in case she went into labor.

As with in the case with Luke, Ben also wanted to make a GRAND entrance while everyone was still in town. John, Ellie and my Dad took off to the store to buy a new grill in honor of John's b-day. These were the beginning days of the cell phone age and we had a cell phone, but it was the size of a shoebox. Needless to say, John's Mom ran back into the house to fetch the cell phone, "just in case." Well, of course you know that as soon as they reached their destination, I started having contractions (3:30 pm). The contractions were very regular and I could tell that things were moving pretty quickly. I called the bunch and they were still 30 minutes away. ugh. I cringed knowing that the hospital where we were going to deliver was a mere 40 minutes away. oh boy. The race was on! After driving home as fast as possible and turning down the wrong street in our subdivision, the grill group finally made it home.

We made it safely to the hospital although I think we hit every bump and railroad track imaginable. Sparing you all of the gory details, Benjamin Jay Peterson came into the world at 7:23 pm....without an epidural (again).

Today, Ben is a healthy boy with a super creative mind. He's not much interested in school work, although he's on the honor roll. We just appreciate that Ben loves life and has a great time no matter what he's doing. He has the ability to get along with just about anyone and seems to enjoy flip-flopping from playing videos games with Andrew to building Legos with Luke. What a great trait to have!!!! We just love him so much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN!!!!!!

John's Birthday celebration!

Hello! We had wild and crazy weekend, celebrating John's birthday on Friday night and having Luke's belated birthday "sleepover" party on Saturday night. Oh, the fun!!!

For John's birthday, we celebrated by going out for dinner at Uno's Chicago Grill and then went as a family to our local high school's play, "Annie Get Your Gun." Wow, what a great play...I can't believe the talent that these kids have in high school..It was amazing! It even kept our 6 year old mezmorized for 2 1/2 hours!!

Friday, November 16, 2007

November 16th, it's a special day!!!

Anna has been trying to figure out her Christmas wish list. She loves to find something that she wants and then writes it down on a piece of paper. I guess it's a good way to practice her handwriting. Her brothers, on the other hand, all have their Christmas wish lists on a Microsoft word document...go figure.

Our little angel must have gotten all worn out looking at the American Girl catalog...



ALSO---

Remember this guy???


IT'S HIS BIRTHDAY!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN!!!!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

A productive afternoon....

John took the day off on Tuesday for Anna's surgery. Because we were home by noon, he had a chance to accomplish some tasks around the yard. We've been having trouble with Little Miss Naughty Dog (see earlier post) stealing tomatoes out of the garden and eating them....lots of them. Let me tell you, those tomatoes do NOT agree with her tummy, if you know what I mean...(ahem) she could clear a room. So John had a chance to remove the remaining offenders..


but not without just a few more bites... (nice action shot, hey?)



he also trimmed down all of the bushes in the front yard and then involved the boys with this........(window washing)


They didn't think it was funny that I was on the inside of the house and they were outside working- They didn't have a problem squirting the window just as my face was peeking out of it...


Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog...it's another birthday!!! Jill

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Anna's surgery

Hi all! I didn't mention it yesterday because it's not a big deal, but Anna had surgery today. She had surgery on her neck last year to remove some branchial cleft cysts and a salivary gland. One of the incisions didn't heal properly so the dr. went back in today to clean out and properly close the wound. Surgery was at 9:30 and we were home by noon! She did have an upset tummy on the ride home.....but Mom caught it all in the kidney shaped bowl!! Hooray....and I balanced it all the way home!! Now that's a mother's love..... Here she is recovering at home.....

The Christmas Photo

Christmas time is coming soon and that means it's time for our family to have our annual picture taken. Preparations for this special day have started about 2 weeks before the actual picture. Preparations include...choosing a color theme, picking out clothing, purchasing clothing if we don't have just "the right" attire, finding brown shoes to fit everyone and of course, making sure the boys have dark socks to wear (that was a major mistake one year.)

Our day started a little later than expected on Saturday morning because we had been at Raider Madness the night before and stayed out too late (10:00, how pitiful, hey?) Realizing that I had pretty much forgotten to mention the fact to the kids that we needed to be at the photographer at 9 am sharp, they slept in until about 7:30. Mom and Dad kicked their tails in to "high gear" by the time it was ten minutes until 8:00, knowing that 6 people needed to shower and primp to be ready to leave by 8:50. I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story. Lots of prodding...."Luke, get out of the shower!! (He'd been in there for 15 minutes.) and yelling..."Who can take the quickest shower?" and then the ever popular...."Brush teeth, comb hair, NOW!"

You see, I had the clothes ironed (don't fall over) and laid out on each ones bed...all ready to go.




"But, what should I wear, Mom?"


"Dad, could you give me a hand with my hair??"


Well, here we are on our way to the photographer...I think they clean up pretty good, don't you?? and they don't look like their spirits are bruised too badly from all of the yelling.... I wonder if they all got their teeth brushed??? Jill

Monday, November 12, 2007

Raider Madness

We went to a very fun pep rally at our local school on Friday night that involved both parents and students. Kids had a chance to be a part of a relay team or be an active participant in the "chubby bunny" contest (seeing how many marshmallows would fit in to your mouth and they could still say "chubby bunny".) All of the middle school basketball teams and coaches were introduced. It was a fun night! So, guess who won the parent's "lightning" (free throw) contest....



and guess who REALLY won the pie eating contest....(the kids cheered more for the gym teacher so technically he won)


and guess who didn't care who won as long as she got chocolate...


It was a fun, family event!! Oh, and stay tuned tomorrow for details about our family Christmas picture adventure.... Jill

Friday, November 9, 2007

A Winning Poster...

It's red ribbon week at our local school (drug awareness) and Ben made a poster that won for his grade level. I thought it was very COOL! Here it is... Way to go, Ben!
Have a GREAT weekend~ Jill

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Miss Naughty Dog

Our new dog, Bella has been going through a "naughty" phase. From deciding to run away at the park, to eating everything outside that's edible, to not listening--she's had a rough week or so.

We've only had her for a month and a half, but we made sure to sign her up for obedience classes, which we've been attending for the last 6 weeks. She's done OK in the classes, but this week, being her "naughty week", I took Bella to class and told the instructor, jokingly, that our dog was for sale....no, that I would give her away.

The instructor answered many of my questions and gave me some good advice on how to deal with Miss Naughty Dog. She asked me if I wanted to try the "gentle leader" collar which I know had changed the attitude of several dogs in the class. I agreed, and after several (about 10) minutes of bucking like a bronco, she settled down and became a dog that I had never seen before....a calm, attentive, little sweetheart.
It was an amazing transformation!!!

At the end of each obedience class, there is a contest. It may be to see whose dog can sit the fastest or whose dog can stay in a "sit, stay" the longest. Well, Miss Naughty dog has never won any of these contests, but guess what????

Miss Naughty dog was the champion this week!!!! Defeating another dog (a neighbor's dog with the "gentle leader" collar) that has won two weeks in a row!!!!! Yea!! Check out the "trophy" we get to keep for the week!!!



This whole training thing makes me tired....and could somebody throw away that new dog collar???

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Works for me!!!

I haven't done a works for me Wednesday for awhile, so I thought I'd share one today. With 6 people in our family, we have a lot of laundry to do. I've figured out a laundry system that really works for our family. Here it is....and of course, as you know.... nothing is "set in stone" at our house.

Monday- Mom and Dad's laundry
Tuesday- Ben and Luke do their incredible pile of laundry
Wednesday- Anna's laundry
Thursday- Andrew does his laundry
Friday- Mom and Dad's laundry
Saturday- Towels/sheets
Sunday-off!!!

Enjoy your day! Jill

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

It's snow fun...

I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday when this happened at our house ....

One of our local radio stations is playing Christmas music already...it's just wrong. I'm not ready for that yet....but I am over half way done with my Christmas shopping :)

Remember this guy that was sick??


It turns out that the poor guy has MONONUCLEOSIS! EEEW!! The doctor said he will be home from school all of this week and may only go half day next week to start back. He's such a sweetie, he's so worried about missing school and most of all he's concerned about his G.P.A. because he has a "good thing going." Gotta love a kid like that, hey??? Ben thinks he's "lucky" that he gets to stay home.... that's Ben for ya!!! Have a good day!! Jill