merry christmas

We fit 3 Christmases and 2 birthdays within 3 days.

We traveled up to the Cabin last Saturday (22nd) without Abby. It's difficult for Abby to ask for time off in December so she had to stay home and work Sunday. Jeff and I drove 2 cars and left one in Appleton for the next day. Craig and Clark drove up the night before. Kristin, Carlo, Bella and Lucy had already arrived. It was very warm out that day, near 40° and that caused a lot of fog. Not optimal driving conditions. Meg, William, Bryce, Logan, Mia and Cooper got in around suppertime and their drive wasn't too enjoyable because of the weather. But all 19 of us made it and moved into our assigned rooms.

Sunday morning, Mom arranged for us to all go to brunch for Dad's 75th birthday. (His birthday's really the day after Christmas, but we all couldn't stay that long.) The weather again was far from cooperative. It was pouring rain in the morning and as the day went on, the temperature fell, so the precipitation changed to sleet then snow. And it was terribly windy! We had the place to ourselves when we first arrived at the restaurant. We all enjoyed a delicious buffet and watched the snow continue to fall. Made it home to watch the miserable Packer game. Meg and William enjoyed a better end result with the Colts.

Then Jeff and I trekked to Appleton for Christmas at Maggie's at 3pm. Seemed OK driving there, just a little slower to be careful with the snow. Maggie and Tom hosted 25 in their cozy household and Maggie had the spread out! It's so nice to see everybody: Tony & Katie's first Christmas together, listen to Kayleigh's college experiences, relate with Debbie and Vicki, ... From there, Jeff left to pick up Abby after work in Milwaukee to bring her back up north while I left and went directly back up north. Boy was I nervous driving! The snow was blowing so hard that I couldn't tell where the edge of the road was! If there was a motel in Black Creek, Paige, Bryn and I would've checked in! It did seem to let up a bit after Black Creek, but my typical drive time was doubled.

Christmas Eve day is a day of anticipation. The kids were bouncing off the walls and needed to burn some energy. We took them outside to sled and ice skate. The ice was still soft from the warm temperatures and a bit slushy near the edges, but well worth it to get the kids outside.


We decided to begin opening presents on Christmas Eve at 4pm - especially so the little ones (Mia, Cooper, Bella and Lucy are all 2yrs old or younger) could get through theirs before they got too tired. Food preparation wasn't complete quite on schedule so we began opening at 5pm. I'm amazed at the kid's patience as we took the time to watch each present be opened. We had to take two breaks to eat and to put kids to bed, and we finally finished up about 10pm. While the adults were cleaning up the last remnants of wrapping paper, the 10 foot Frazier Fir toppled directly into the living room! Ornaments crashed and it landed with a thud! Luckily, nobody was in the room to get hurt. Mom was quite sad about losing ornaments and Dad was quite beside himself that his perfect tree was damaged: a definite flat spot on one side. It was a mess with the holder spilling water all over, but it was cleaned up by 11 and we all got into bed so Santa could come.

The kids were up early Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought. Clark was especially excited to open up his restaurant, The Hand, today. Craig bought him a variety of restaurant supply items including a neon ORDER sign, order pad, straws, etc. And Logan bought Clark a mini popcorn wagon so that was included into The Hand's menu. Logan worked hard with Clark the grand opening of The Hand. Jeff, I and the girls drove into Appleton again for the afternoon to wish Jeff's Dad and Judy happy holidays. Debbie and her family were there too. Driving conditions were back to normal, thankfully. When we returned, we dined at The Hand and everyone joined in to play Paige's Are You Smarter than A Fifth Grader? game.

Today, we packed up to leave and had Craig open his birthday presents. (His birthday's actually the 29th.) It's always sad to leave, but it'll be nice to have a uninterrupted night's sleep. And it sure was fun with all the kids.

nothin but snow

Abby and Bryn are at a Student Council Christmas Party so I have time to blog ON TIME this week.


Again, a very eventful week for the Saunders. As I mentioned Monday, Paige was rewarded with getting her braces earlier than expected. After Jeff and I went over our financial obligations with the orthodontist, he offered to put the spacers in immediately while we were there, and the receptionist noticed an opening Thursday to put on her braces. Typically the spacers are in for a week, so Paige was really lucky. Paige's appointment Thursday was in the morning, but she opted not to return to school that day. She looks great and is keeping great care of them!


Tuesday Milwaukee was threatened with an ice storm, so most school in the area closed for a snow day. Abby was already in the shower before we caught the announcement on TV. Oh well. She just rolled back into bed in her sweats and a towel on her head. Jeff and I got in to work reasonably on time. But the ice didn't seem to materialize as forecast - it just kept snowing! And it was such a beautiful snow: giant flakes that fell all day. Bryn and Paige had a great time in it as you can see. Abby spent the day with Kendal. Inside. Party poopers!


And all week long, Bryn and Abby were at Band Revue rehearsals til 9:30 at night. Having the snow day didn't help. Jeff and I got to see the production twice over the weekend: on Friday evening with my parents and my sister, Kristin, then again on Sunday afternoon with Jeff's mom and sister, Terry. Lucky I had my iPhone to check the Packer game at intermission! No worries. Abby's boyfriend, Alex, announced the score of the Packer game as he "died" on stage. While the production itself is kind of a hodgepodge of different talents, it's so endearing seeing the kids you know perform. This year, Abby danced a swing dance with Alex and then a salsa dance - not with Alex. Bryn played her trombone throughout the entire production with the Jazz Band.


I gave my Mom her Christmas present early. On Saturday, I took her to the Pabst Mansion (link at right). Dad and Jeff got to go too. This time of year the Mansion's all decorated for Christmas and it's absolutely beautiful. Mom wanted to go last year when I hosted Christmas at my house, but it just gets too much to organize with my entire family in town. So when she said they'd like to come down for Band Revue, the timing couldn't have been better. And of course it snowed another 4 inches which made it even prettier. And us 4 got to enjoy it just as adults. Ahhhh.

happy days are here again

After much talking, my co-worker, Kevin, and I were able to convince Mike to stay at Norman Design. As I wrote in my last entry, Mike quit to take a web programming job elsewhere. Kevin and I let Mike know how valuable his web expertise is to Norman Design and how we could - and wanted - to let him concentrate in that area. John (owner) gave it his all as well. So yeah!


Paige has to cook 10 dishes at home for her FACE (Family and Consumer Ed) class. She missed a key ingredient in this very burnt batch of Easy Mac! Almost started a fire in our microwave!!! And yes, Paige wants to be a chef.


Last Tuesday we received an unexpected visitor into our home, Flat Logan. Now we all like Flat Logan, but we'd really rather have Real Logan come visit. Flat Logan is Logan's classroom project where we have to take pictures of Flat Logan doing stuff with us. She's been out in the snow, to our new McDonald's, in Abby's messy room and playing frisbee with Theo. We have to get her back soon though.

I went Christmas shopping Tuesday night as all the kids had something to do. I wanted to pick out Christmas cards at Hallmark (Abby was working), but Abby said we can't have regular Christmas cards and she had an idea for our family photo. I didn't have to Photoshop a new head on myself this year, but it did take 7 pictures for me to have my eyes open. I thought that was fairly painless for everyone. Jeff put them in the mail today! (Of course, I'm not going to post this picture!)

Paige and I have had a lot of time alone with her sisters both in Band Revue at the High School this year. Rehearsals are now daily.


Paige and I baked our first Christmas cookies on Sunday while watching the Packer Game. We made peanut butter kisses. Jeff left our house at 6:30am for the game. He went with his same college friends that he goes hunting with. Lucky St. Nick brought Jeff a new warm scarf, earmuffs and gloves! It was cold!

I left Paige alone while I attended Bryn's UWAY winter concert down at UWM. (Jeff was on his way back from the Packer game and Abby had her work Christmas party.) Their concerts are so pretty to listen to. All the kids play at such a high level and the concert hall has great acoustics. I put a new link at the right about the ensemble.

Today (Monday) Bryn and Paige both had orthodontist appointments at 8am. Bryn's teeth looked perfect, so the removal date of Dec 27th is on! And Jeff and I were both invited to sit down and discuss Paige's future orthodonture ($$$$$) and asked to sign on the bottom line. Paige is equally excited about getting her braces ON. Paige got 7 spacers inserted to make room for bands around her molars and she'll be back in the chair this Thursday to get her braces!!! She says she's getting red and green for Christmas.

Bryn was honored at the Village's School Board meeting tonight for her performance in Cross Country this past fall. The athletic director introduced all the outstanding fall athletes.

back to the old routine

Back to a full week of school and work for all of us.

Abby visited the dentist Monday where I was invited in to be informed that Abby should have her wisdom teeth pulled before she goes off to college. Abby has only 3 wisdom teeth, like I did (my Dad, on the other hand, had only 1 – the one I was missing!).

Tuesday night Abby and Dana baked 12 dozen sugar cookies for our continuing Girl Scout Gold Award project with the nursing home. Of course, I ordered the pre-cut cookies from Market Day so we literally only had to bake them. I HATE rolling out and cutting cookies! Abby invited Dana to come early so Abby could get to the High School basketball game.

Jeff studied hard the past few weeks and it paid off! He passed his "Green Building" test on Wednesday so now (as he explained to the girls) gets to add more letters after his name on his business card (LEED), link at left. It's attractive to many clients nowadays.

Bryn finally got her first road session with the driving school on Thursday. The instructor commented that Bryn was good at turns, but she needs to center herself better on the road. Bryn said her teacher was eating a smelly tuna sandwich during the lesson. :( I went to bed by 9 again. Caught the cold that's been going through our house.

Friday night all the girls had social plans: Paige went to the local Teen Center, Bryn and Abby went bowling with their respective groups of friends. So Jeff and I decided to go get our Christmas tree! The weather was a little chilly, but we kept hearing what was coming so we wanted to get it done! We came home and watched "Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream Home" - an old movie that I'd never get to watch with the kids home. I also received a call from John, my boss, that one of the two full-time guys just gave his notice. Bummer. When your company only consists of 4 people, losing one is a big deal. He'll be hard to replace - we really relied on his technical expertise.

Abby, Dana and I went off to host our 3rd installment of bringing Brownies to the nursing home Saturday morning. Again, it went great! Abby and Dana hosted 20 little Brownie girl scouts to decorate cookies and paint Christmas tree ornaments with residents. Abby and Dana were kept hopping distributing frosting, sprinkles then switching to paint and cleaning it all up! All within an hour and a half!


The nasty weather started at about noon, so Paige and I got out to the grocery store right away so we could get back! We also stopped at Blockbuster to get some Christmas movies to watch while we decorated the tree. The sleet began about 5pm. We snugged in and watched Deck the Halls, then The Polar Express while snacking on popcorn and peppermint hot chocolate.

Today I chaperoned a shopping trip for 4H as our club is sponsoring a family for Christmas. We had 4 groups of 4 kids each that we took to WalMart and let them spend $30 per group being assigned to boy clothing, boy toys, girl toys or girl clothing. We met back at someone's house and wrapped everything up for presentation next Sunday. Then I cooked chicken & dumplings - just seemed like the right weather for it. Jeff was a nice guy and picked the chicken from the bones while I got to go to the Y. He also put up our outdoor lights. :)

NEWSFLASH: Tomorrow is Alex's (Abby's boyfriend) birthday!!! It's being treated like a national holiday at our house! Update next week.

indy, awright?

Here's where we spent Thanksgiving this year - at Meg's house on Alameda Place in Indy. My kids had off for the full week of Thanksgiving so it was a perfect time to make the trip down. We left early (4:30am!) on Wednesday morning and made it down in 5 hours! The weather in Indy was so nice Wednesday - it was 60°! Bryn took the opportunity to get a run in and I tried to take Mia for a walk (she made it down the driveway and then wanted to go home).


After settling in a bit, we decided to make any Thankgiving meal items we could that day. Meg chose to make her apple and pumpkin pies. Abby, Bryn and Mia all peeled apples and we had a couple apple crises as the peeler didn't seem to like some of our apples.

Jeff, Meg, William and myself all woke up early (7am) Thanksgiving morning so we could get the turkey in. Meg had seen a great recipe for roasting the turkey on the Food Network that she wanted to try - as long as she could get someone else to do it! It involved making a butter log that got sliced into medallions that needed to be slid under the turkey's skin. Needless to say, Jeff and William were nominated the "sliders." All the food turned out great - especially the turkey! Meg kept everything warm for leftovers in her latest bargain buy, a roaster oven with 3 separate warming trays.



Meg, Abby and I woke up by 5am Friday morning to do our traditional shop til you drop on Black Friday. We hit Toys R Us first and that took a full 2 hours. Crazy! We were in a short line for 1 whole hour! Why do the checkers let you apply for credit on the busiest shopping day of the year???? We eventually hit Starbucks, Kohls, Circuit City, Old Navy... and Abuelo's for lunch! It was fun. Jeff took Bryn and Paige to get some shoes they had both seen in the ads. Paige wanted Heeleys (tennis shoes with roller skates in the bottom) so she could skate with Bryce and Logan. The kids all got a chance to take a dip in the whirlpool. That night, I lounged in the theater chairs and happily watched Shrek 3 with the kids.



Saturday we got to see Bryce play an indoor soccer game before we left for home at 4pm. Again, another easy commute back to Milwaukee.

Last Monday, I celebrated my 44th birthday. I stopped at Panera on the way in to work and brought in coffee cake. The guys asked what the occasion was. Typical. After work, I went to Abby and Bryn's conferences at the High School for 3 hours. Don't worry - I still got a homemade birthday cake and Crocs! Abby's conferences were what I expected. The term "senioritis" was used a lot. Jeff and I are helping Abby - a lot - with managing her time. Bryn's conferences and Paige's (the following day) were all good news.

Last Wednesday Bryn finally had her Cross Country Banquet. Her coach went on a trip immediately after the season ended so that was the reason for the delay. One of the girls parents owns a local bowling alley and let the team use one of their banquet rooms - really nice! All the girls were brought up individually and recognized for their individual good attributes - the coaches were very prepared and sincere about each runner. Bryn was thanked for not joining the golf team and was presented with a big plaque for being the best runner on the team. Way to go Bryn!

I didn't work this Friday so that I wouldn't have any time restrictions because I had a lunch date with my three good "mom" friends. We all lived in the same neighborhood when our kids went through elementary school and we all have one child that's currently a sophomore. When the kids were younger, we'd get together 4-5 times/year and now we're lucky to get together 2 times! Our job situations have changed and these high school years seem very frenzied, but I'd rearrange my schedule anyday to make these luncheons work out. We do get to see each other at band concerts, cross country meets and football games.

And, my nephew Mitchell went with his football team (Kimberly, Division 2) to State this Friday and WON! Link for story at right, as well as Mitchell Hintz's stats. Congrats Mitchell!!!!! And the best part is he's only a sophomore, so he's got a chance for a 3-peat!


I also got to pick up my new glasses Friday (they left a message they were ready on Tuesday with one of my children... need I say more?) and they're so great! My old ones were entirely rimless and, in my opinion, totally not worth how expensive they were. So I was definitely against going that way again. My new ones seem so much clearer to look through and I don't have to take them off so much like I did the old ones. (Not that I have to say this, but of course this is the only one of three pics where my eyes were kinda open.)

I picked up Abby's senior pictures on Saturday and we're very pleased. The photographer still owes me my sheet where I had written down what everybody ordered... Now I supposed I should buy 3 frames so all my kids senior pics will match when they're hanging up.

I neglected to mention that Paige has been given the go ahead to get her braces! I think if the orthodontist scolded her again about not wearing her nightbrace enough, Paige was going to let him have it! So tomorrow Paige gets to have new molds taken. Thank goodness she wants those braces so bad because those molds are icky!

We're off to Indy early Wednesday (to beat the Chicago traffic). We haven't been to Indy for a while so we're looking forward to a nice visit. We'll come back late Saturday - again to hopefully avoid a lot of the Chicago traffic.

busy week

Paige and I checked up on our geocaching hitchhiker, Clover, and saw he was found yesterday and is on his way to Vermont. It's really exciting! You can click on the geocaching link to see what this is all about.

I was met Monday morning at work with a great surprise! A pricey gift card to the Apple store for a bonus. It also had conditions: I could only use it on myself. My boss knew I had just lost my phone and also that I never had an iPod, so the exact amount of the gift equalled the amount of an iPhone... so now I am the owner of my own iPhone. It's so cool! I've loaded a few picture and iTunes and it seems to work so smoothly! Of course I've placed a link at the right.

Last Tuesday night, I went out for dinner with my girls' babysitters, Wendy and Robin. They're such nice people. I'm so glad that they think to get me out once in a while. Their kids are just a bit older than mine so listening to their stories is invaluable.

Abby had an easy week starting school at 11:00am on Tuesday and Thursday while Bryn was testing and the school had to be kept as quiet as possible (juniors and seniors had late start time). Abby actually had an art field trip on Thursday that started at 9:00am. Luckily her friend Erin called and woke her up at 9:20. The bus left at 9:30.


Paige competed in the city-wide "Best of the Best" Tae Kwon Do tournament. She won a medal for her form and breaking her boards. She broke 2 sets of wood boards each on her first try! She was grouped with many girls a belt above her.

Bryn and Abby woke up early Saturday morning to rake yards for Student Council. Then Abby cheered her friend, Ali who won Menomonee Falls Junior Miss, on as she competed for Junior Miss Wisconsin. Ali didn't win.

Kristin, Bella and Lucy were going to come over today to check out the swingset, but we had a new family program at church that took most of our morning and afternoon is naptime! Jeff's taking down the swingset and Kristin and Carlo intend to rebuild it in their backyard.

day late

I've been so good at updating this on Sundays...


It was Halloween this past Wednesday and it was actually kind of nice out for trick-or-treating. Paige dressed up as a vampire! Paige went out on her own with a friend (without me!) for the first time this year so I made her take my cell phone. Abby asked Jeff to build a fire in our outdoor firepit and kept warm on the driveway while handing out candy. Paige returned with a lot of candy - but no cell phone. We all tried calling it but no one answered.


Saturday Abby had another event at the nursing home for Girl Scouts, but she was unable to get out of working so Dana and I went it alone. It went well. We had the Brownies ask the residents questions and drew turkeys for door decorations. I think Abby and Dana are really feeling confident and good about what they're putting together. We have another scheduled in December, then will do another in January and February.



Sunday I organized a geocaching event for the 4-H Club that Bryn and Paige are in. I had to purchase a "hitchhiker" (I bought a 4-h beanie baby) that you place in a cache that you find on the internet. Our hitchhiker has a ID tag that you also register on the geocaching site and you can read its log as others find it and place it into new caches. We're entered in a national 4-H geocaching race hoping that our hitchhiker travels to all 50 states!

Oh! A neighbor called "home" from my cell on Saturday. He found it while picking up dog poop in his yard. Ewww...

Today, my boss surprised us all by rewarding us with an Apple gift card for the extra hours we've been putting in the past couple months. While we were all thankful for him noticing, we were really taken aback at his graciousness. Now what to buy...

Jeff's birthday celebrated on college campus

This past Thursday Jeff turned 45 and the day did not just slip by. Jeff chaperoned Abby and her friends, Ali and Kendal to Stevens Point that day. Although they kept the special day secret from the tour guide, they did manage to do it up right at dinner that night. They went to TGIFridays in LaCrosse and let the wait staff know it was his birthday so the entire restaurant sang to him. The girls excused themselves to the bathroom where they blew up balloons and spilled them over Jeff to add to the celebration. Also, every 2 minutes during their restaurant stay, the girls presented Jeff with a $100 Grand candy bar (Jeff's favorite).


Ali, Kendal and Abby had a great time of course. They loved both campuses, but favored LaCrosse over Stevens Point. Jeff found a really neat hotel in LaCrosse that was cabin-themed and had bunk beds (see link at right)! The girls, all in the king-size bed, stayed up til 3:30am talking while Jeff snoozed in the top bunk. I think he enjoyed the road trip overall, plus it was a pretty time just to be outdoors.

So while Jeff and Abby were off with all the campus co-eds, Bryn went to Madison to play with her Wind Symphony band (from the high school) for the Music Educators conference. Apparently, it's quite an honor to be chosen to play there. I was thinking about going, but the more I checked into it, it didn't sound like it was for the general public.


So Paige and I had Thursday to ourselves (I took off Thursday instead of Friday last week) so we went Halloween shopping to complete her vampire costume (she wanted to be something scary this year) and get some extra decorating stuff for the house. We had fun with the spider web stuff. Trick or Treat is Wednesday night!

Abby received acceptance letters from Green Bay and Eau Claire this week. I'd like her to narrow down choices before we send in housing money...

Bryn was mentioned in the news again for Cross Country (see link at right). She was disappointed with the coach's comments because she did work really hard and did run over the summer to prepare. Last Wednesday was the team season wrap-up: a 10-mile run.

end of Cross Country

Paige finished up her season last week with her banquet mentioned in my last entry and Bryn finished hers Saturday placing 40th at Sectionals which wasn't high enough to get her to State. Needless to say, Bryn was disappointed. She ran hard, but the course was very hilly aggravating her feet and knees. No more practices, but the team gets together for a season-end 10-mile-run on Wednesday. Her banquet will be held in November as her coach has a vacation planned.


Paige wants an iPod so badly she's constantly asking us for ways to make money. She doesn't like that our suggestions involve working. I think she's resolved to wait until Christmas. And Paige is constantly making movies but combining pictures, transitions, movie clips and songs. Need a lot of computer power to keep that hobby up!

Bryn had a band concert this past Thursday that I was able to enjoy while Jeff accompanied Paige to a 4-H meeting. Funny to see that she is now not the tallest in her trombone section - the boys have finally sprouted up!

And Bryn received great news at her ortho appointment last week. Da da-da da!! A tentative date has been set for getting her braces off: Dec 27th!!! She's very excited.

Abby is still the social butterfly. We rely on others to pass along word of her whereabouts.

She's getting sentimental about attending her last ever football game... last ever soccer game...

Abby had her first in a series of monthly meetings at Linden Grove (nursing home) last Saturday. The meetings invite Brownie Girl Scouts to the nursing home for an activity with the residents that Abby and fellow Girl Scout, Dana, have planned. It's all toward earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. The event went better than we expected. The Brownies paraded through the halls in their costumes, we awarded prizes for different costumer categories, then we painted pumpkins with the residents.


Abby had band auditions last week to determine if she would play with the Concert or Symphonic band, and then which chair. Her band teacher jokingly told us that either Abby or her boyfriend Alex would need to be downgraded to Concert band this year. Can't have all that giddiness going on. Lucky for Abby, they are indeed placed both in the same band (Symphonic) and Abby sits right in front of Alex. Awww...

Abby just received an acceptance letter from UW-Stevens Point. She was very happy. Today she finally finished her application to Marquette. Jeff is taking Abby and her friend Ali to Stevens Point and LaCrosse this coming Thursday and Friday as they have off school for teacher's convention.

We were invited for a cookout at Kristin's tonight. We got to see how big Lucy is getting. And the progress on the basement. And Bella being shy.

Bought our pumpkins and put out decorations over the weekend. Bought candy too, but that seems to disappear rather quickly...

My First Entry

I think the fall school rush has settled. Ah! The sign of relief!

Jeff and I just celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary amidst the high school Homecoming and a Packers game. Also my work seems to have given me a breather after 2 months of extra hours. I'm thankful.

Here's Abby and her boyfriend, Alex, on their way to Homecoming last weekend. Homecoming had a jungle theme and Abby borrowed this zebra dress. With a lot of help from her friend, Kendal's, mom Abby's now has a flashy red belt and was altered to fit her perfectly. Abby is recovering from a very busy Homecoming week last week playing Powderpuff football against the junior girls and winning! She decorated the high school very early Saturday morning and then danced the night away.


Bryn is doing great on Cross Country! She runs in Sectionals this Saturday and is hoping to qualify for State. She's the #1 varsity runner at the high school! (I'll get her picture up tomorrow.)


Paige just finished her Cross Country season at the middle school and was honored for being one of the four most consistent top runners on her team. Paige just tested for her high green belt last Saturday for Tae Kwon Do - if she passes she will begin sparring (fighting with an opponent).