Well, well, well....

Just where have I been with updates you ask? I think September and October flew by and in November I had all good intentions but never had the time. I have been keeping busy volunteering at school, spending my days exercising, taking Katherine to swimming and gym classes, running errands, then after school there is homework, more swim lessons for Emma, meetings at school because I am Secretary of a Parent group, and other meetings associated with a Moms group I have joined. I hope to do better in the new year. For now I will try to give a recap of our fall highlights...Badgers! Oh yeah, I was at Badger games for most of September and October plus scrapbooking for two weekends in October. Its been another great year for the Badgers minus the two heartbreaking losses. There are seven home games total - we took the girls to one, I took my Dad to one, Ethan took a friend to one, and the other four we were able to go together. Ethan and I enjoyed a Packer game in October with some good friends. We ran the Fox Cities Half-Marathon in September. Ethan wanted to see how we would do if he went all out - he did great! 1 hour and 36 minutes. I, on the other hand, felt good to start and tried to keep up what would have been a record setting pace for me only to hit a wall around mile 9 or so and struggle to the finish. It has given me incentive though that I am finally recovering some speed I used to have and coming closer to my goal.

Emma has started first grade and is doing great! She really enjoys just about every subject. Math, science, economics, religion, literacy...She is excelling in all areas. Her reading is amazing me. It just amazes me that one day you have a child who can't read anything and it seems as though before you know it she can now read chapter books. She played soccer this fall at the Y and enjoyed the chance to run around. She really seemed to grasp the game better after playing for two summers with the GB Strikers which is a bit more structured than the Y. She even scored a few goals! In swimming lessons she has also excelled and has passed into a pre-swim team class. She is going to try basketball at the Y for this winter. Emma has also been taking piano lessons which she really enjoys. We do not have a piano but recently bought a large keyboard that will work fine for a few years for practicing on.

Katherine, Katherine...she continues to make us laugh. She is constantly on the go unless she stops to do a puzzle or two or three...then she has full concentration and you can't even get her to break away to eat! She is now mastering 24 piece puzzles by herself! She still loves her swimming lessons and is swimming on her own! She can swim on her back the length of the pool and is working each week on big arms for her freestyle which improves each week. This week they even practiced diving and she did great! I didn't see one belly flop. She loves jumping class as she calls it. Its a gymnastics class at The Little Gym. Whenever they ask her name at the beginning of class it is "Monkey" and then sometimes "Katherine". Since we gave her the nickname Monkey she has since given me the nickname "Mama Monkey". She has even gone as far as telling people "I am not Katherine, I am Monkey". I overheard her recently say this to Emma. She is quite stubborn and independent as Emma was but to a whole new level it seems. She has not decided to go potty yet. I think she knows exactly what to do but has no desire to do it yet and will not take bribes or any other cajoling. She is a very picky eater but we continue to try. Last week I managed to succeed in five bites of lasagna and a piece of celery with peanut butter. Katherine enjoys Sesame Street so we took her to see "Elmo - What Makes Music". She enjoyed it although the second half of the show I think she enjoyed her popcorn even more. She loves, loves popcorn. Ethan bought a tub for all to share - Katherine could not put it down. Her favorite character on Sesame Street....believe it or not is not Elmo, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby, or Cookie Monster...it is Oscar the Grouch! 

Ethan still works all the time. :-) After nine years plus his rotating shift schedule "is what it is" and we just go with the flow. Katherine has been for awhile on an "only Mommy" can do it kick but I think is starting to let it go because she has been "missing Daddy" during the day. I think she is starting to notice as Emma once did that Ethan will be home for a stretch and she becomes used to it and then its over and he is back to rotating 12 hour days and nights for four weeks. He did manage to fit in a few rounds of golf with his father-in-law this summer and fall. He fits in his running in creative ways around his schedule. And has new goals of either trying a 50 miler or continuing to train fast and see if he can qualify for Boston. Not sure which one he plans to try first but I would bet they both happen at some point in the next 5 years.

So I think that's it. It even took me a week to write this one post. Christmas is right around the corner. I promise to post again with what we have been doing this month..while it is still December. :-) Last but not least some photos from our fall adventures. Oh, Halloween...the girls had fun. Katherine was "Boo" from Monsters, Inc. and Emma was Jessie from Toy Story. Katherine's costume idea came from Ethan she decided she wanted to be a monster and would say "boo" when you asked her what monsters say. Ethan thought of Boo from Monsters, Inc. and I went on eBay to find her costume. It took a few tries to outbid people but I finally did it. Oh and the best part of all the Boo costume is purple. Katherine loves, loves, loves purple! She wears it almost every day and will almost always point out anything she says that is purple or if someone is wearing it.

At the Pumpkin Place

The Pumpkin Place -October

Halloween Pumpkins that Daddy carved

At the Timber Rattlers game late August for Daddy's company picnic.

Badger game this September.