Music Man, Jr - Wilson Middle School

In January, Alex auditioned for a role in the upcoming musical, The Music Man, at school. We were so excited to find out that she made it!  She was part of the ensemble and had a few small parts within the musical.  The play was wonderfully done (we had to remind ourselves that this was a middle school production...not high school!)  The dancing and music were fun to watch / listen to and the kids did an amazing job.  Obviously it took lots of hard work and dedication, but it paid off!  Here are a few pictures from the show.

Winter Happenings 2017

Alex started guitar lessons this winter and also asked to start the alto saxophone.  We rented the sax from school and she is slowly learning the new instrument.  She is hoping to start playing with the school Jazz Band this Spring (the whole reason for picking up the saxophone).

Alex also got glasses this winter!  We knew that she would be needing them soon as she couldn't see the white board very well in school.  She is amazed at the difference!  I'd say she looks pretty cute with them!

Our annual "Awana Quizzing" was in February.  Maddie teamed up with two boys from our Awana while Will completed a team from another church.  Both teams did great!  Maddie's team took first while Will's team took second!

Another tradition is our Valentine's Dinner.  Monday, February 13th, we were able to enjoy a candelight dinner together.  It's always such a special meal for us.

We've had a crazy winter with weather.  We've had very little snow (I am not sure that the snow pants were ever worn to school this year!) and unusually warm temps.  As we head into March, we start thinking of Spring - flowers, rain, green grass and longer days.  Heaven!

Celebrating Will & Maddie 2017

Another Round of Birthdays!  As soon as Christmas is over, we start thinking about Will & Maddie's birthday (#11)..actually THEY start thinking about it well before Christmas!  It was Maddie's turn to choose the location this year and she chose Grammy & Grandad's house.  Two cakes, ice cream and lots of presents, all with our favorite people - made for a wonderful evening!

As soon as we lit the candles and started singing, Willy put his hand over Will's mouth so couldn't blow out his candles.  In the meantime, Maddie had strong lungs and ended up blowing some of Will's candles out! 

Maddie received lots of Shopkins and a Lego set while Will received two Lego sets.

These last two pictures were gifts they hadn't asked for...but really wanted.  They were a bit excited to see them!

Chicago and Minnesota - Winter Break Getaways 2016

Matt had a vacation day that he had to "use or lose" by the end of the year.  We decided to head to the Chicagoland area for 2 days.  Maddie asked if we could see Wrigley Field so we added that to the list.  We really didn't have much planned, just a quick getaway to swim and relax.  As we were packing, Matt grabbed the "W" flag he had given me for Christmas.  It was the perfect way to document our trip to Wrigley. 

While the kids have never attended a game, we have driven by Wrigley a few times.  You have not truly watched baseball until you've watched a game sitting in Wrigley!  She isn't too pretty right now (under construction), but it was wonderful to see the Championship marquee!

Standing in front of the marquee, it was hard to envision how crazy busy it was the night the Cubs won the Series....



We drove around the block and pointed out statues, the scoreboard and Murpy's! 

We finished our time in Chicago with some amazing food, swimming at the hotel and shopping.  Great fun!

Less than a week later, Matt was given an opportunity to travel to Minnesota (Twin Cities), to pick up a vehicle for work.  We decided to head up as a family and spend the night.  We surprised the kids with this news and told them we were heading to the Mall of America!  They were just a *tad* bit excited!  We found a few letterboxes along the way to MN and even stopped for the state sign!  It's hard to believe that it was January 1st and hardly any coats needed!  Matt told them to "look cold" ...Alex and Maddie tried at least!  We played at the mall for a few hours (shopping, eating, riding the rollercoasters) and then shopped at IKEA.  We checked in to our hotel and swam for an hour then found dinner.  Unfortunately, we were going to be driving home the next morning through a horrible winter storm (ice, freezing rain and blizzard like snow).  We left at 5 am in hopes of making it as far south as possible before the storm reached us.  Matt & I drove separately and we were both fervently praying for God's protection from the weather.  At one point, we stopped at a rest area and Matt shared "as I was praying for God to hold the storm off, the wind literally changed direction and started blowing east to west!"  The wind had been a strong line coming from the west up until that point.  I confirmed that I knew right when that happened, because I felt the wind change as well.  What an amazing God we serve! 

Aside from a few snowflakes and drizzles, we got home without seeing any portion of the storm.  Friends from the Twin Cities area confirmed that the area had indeed been hit with freezing rain and ice later that morning.  We made a good decision to leave early (as much as it sucked getting up and going at that time!).  We literally felt like God held back the storm.

Our 2 short getaways were wonderful!  We had fun as a family and enjoyed our time together!

Christmas Celebrations - 2016

We started our Christmas Season with a few concerts.  I didn't take pictures of Alex's band/choir concerts but here are a few pictures from Maddie & Will's concert. 

Christmas Eve, we headed out to Becki's parents for the Barman Christmas.  We enjoyed some great food and watched the kids put on their Nativity Skit.  Due to time constraints, the skit had to be shortened drastically...but it was still great!

We left the Barman Christmas and headed to church for Christmas Eve Service.  It was a beautiful service with the candelight ending.  Always very touching!

The next morning was a dilemma.  With Christmas landing on a Sunday, we wanted to attend church.  However, the kids wanted to open presents before church and I wanted us to eat our traditional breakfast before church!  Lots to do before getting ready and heading out the door!  Lucky for Matt & I, the kids woke up SUPER early!  I made them go back to bed for at least another hour!  I'm pretty sure we were all up and moving at 6 - a feat for us!

After the monkey bread and egg casserole were in the oven, we sat down to open presents.  I love that the kids are still surprised - even when they know what they are getting (or think they know!). 

Kaitee's big gift this year was The Gifting book set by Katie Ganshert.  While our Kaitee has this set on her Kindle, she really wanted "real" books that she could read and loan out to friends.  I got in touch with Katie Ganshert (local artist who also goes to our church) and she agreed to signing the books for Kaitee.  A really nice surprise for her!

Alex continues to travel down the "music path" and we surprised her with her own guitar this Christmas!  She couldn't wait to open it and start playing!

Legos - so hard to disguise!  I have started to disassemble box and place all the bags in a bigger box with lots of towels...trying to muffle the "Lego" sound.  So far, it has worked!  They are always surprised!

The kids weren't the only ones surprised this year!  Matt ordered a few Cub things for me!  By far, my favorite gift was this ornament of Bill Murray wearing a Cub hat! I'd say he looks pretty good on our tree!

Another fun filled Christmas Season "in the books".