A Surprise!!

The mail lady, Bonnie, delivered a special package to our front door. Inside was a whole lotta goodness......
Could you guess?? A 4 pack of Sterzings Potato Chips from our hometown.....thanks Gramma Ellie and Grandpa Walt!!!

Tired

Not only do these doggies like to follow the workmen around and get worn out, I took them to Happy Hounds for a 4 hour playtime with their "friends." They are ready to zonk out!!

Day 2 of Remodel...

Instead of more destruction, the crew actually took out the electrical and framed up the french doors....looking good!! and Yes, I know there's a huge RAT in the middle of the picture......Min had to check things out..... OK, pictures of other things tomorrow...not the remodeling!!

Destruction Day.....

After having a couple of guys here all day, here's what my kitchen looks like now....can you believe it? The cabinets, stove, dishwasher and sink were all out in my garage by about 10 am- the builder told me we would see lots of progress on this day. In the meantime, the family and I are trying to acclimate to our new routine of being away from the kitchen, which is proving to be very hard for me during the day. I didn't realize how much I like to "putz around" in the kitchen....

Move it downstairs weekend...

We had a wild and crazy weekend here getting ready for the remodel. My friend, Wendy, a.k.a. the "organizing queen," came to help us set up a temporary kitchen in our basement. Let me tell you, this lady can work and work and work...she set up this kitchen, and family room for us and also organized several other little side jobs before she left on Saturday night. WOW- We're VERY thankful!!!
after all of this organizing and moving things around, Anna was inspired to reorganize her bookshelf......cute!!
Sunday brought church in the morning and more moving contents of our family room downstairs in the afternoon. We also enjoyed a great dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's....turkey dinner with baked potatoes, carrots, corn, rolls, and ended with a choice of peach pie or pumpkin pie...mmmmmmmm.

Bentley....by Bella

This is my boyfriend, Bentley. He came to visit yesterday. His Mom said he was depressed and bored so she decided to bring him over to play for a little bit. For some reason he drools and drools when they play....I guess he really likes me!!
We even let Minnie Moo play a little, but her tiny feet got cold and she started shivering.
Then he gave me a smooch and went home....

It was a good day.....

Bella Roo

and

Kitchen Remodel.... BEFORE pictures...

Today, is the day.......the kitchen remodel starts at 8:30 this morning.... The countertop that holds the kleenex box is being cut and taken downstairs to use for our temporary kitchen, as well as the cupboards above it....should be an interesting mess....let's get the show on the road!!!!

Cool Bella Rae.....

Study Buddies...

It's semester exam week and the X-box has been unplugged as well as other electronics.....so they are studying....hopefully....

Visitors

It was a beautiful weekend here in WI....the trees were covered in frost each morning...
It was also a good weekend to have visitors (John's parent's) here from Iowa. We attended a few basketball games, ate out, told a few jokes and just enjoyed each other. Oh yes, we also had the famous "Swedish Meal" that we usually have on Christmas Eve.
and played quite a few games of Bingo......for PRIZES.....
We take these games very, very seriously.... sometimes even playing with multiple cards and of course, always verifying the big win. Gramma Sue even brought the prizes and disguised the contents......check this out....a giant Hershey's candy bar wrapped inside a bubble package......she's so clever!!

A retro moment....

Andrew....age 5

Ben... age 4

Luke....age 2

Anna....6 months

Randomness..

Here's a photo of Minnie Moo and her new haircut....she had a doggie spa day on Tuesday...I can finally see her cute brown eyes.
and this is the picture that Ben thinks is ultimately cool....

Wordless Wednesday... 2 points scored!!

Basketball Star???

See this guy? He was one spot away from making the freshman basketball team. The Coach asked him to be the student assistant for the team and Ben agreed. Ben gets to workout and practice with the team, so he's staying in shape, and he has learned all of the plays too-during games he usually video tapes . Guess what? The coach is letting him play in a Freshman game tonight!! We can't wait to see him play..... look for pictures tomorrow!

Social Butterflies

We were social butterflies this weekend as Anna had a friend sleepover....
Andrew had a significant number of high school seniors over on Saturday night...until midnight....

Ben had friends over Sunday afternoon to watch the Packers lose....

and no one went home hungry, of course....

and then there was this guy, dreaming of warmer weather and green grass...
and did I mention that Luke scored 18 points in his basketball game Friday night??!! WOW!

A face only a mother could love.....