give it all you got

We've made an investment in Bryn's musical career. With encouragement from her private lesson teacher, we purchased a silver Bach 42 trombone from him. Her teacher has let Bryn try it several times at lessons and Bryn loves it. Bryn is very appreciative.

One of the ministry choices at our church is to be a Breadbaker. This weekend it was my turn. Friday I baked 3 10-inch and 5 8-inch loaves. Takes about 3 hours. There's a giant Ziploc bag that you pick up from the sacristry the weekend before with your baking supplies. They're a bit unique: It includes the recipe, two very old pot covers, and a plastic fluorescent lighting screen (the baker donates the ingredients). The two pot covers are for cutting out your 8-inch or 10-inch circular loaves after you've rolled them out and the lighting screen is to make a grid impression onto the loaf so the servers can divide when distibuting. Funny.


Kristin called as I was in the midst of baking and mentioned going for a fish fry. I certainly wasn't dressed for the occasion at this point, but not being in the kitchen any longer sounded good. Our two families met up at the American Legion in Brookfield. We kept Lucy happy with foil butter packets. We teased Bryn about her love life. Later, Abby had a group over to hang out. Jeff, Bryn, Paige and I smirked as we overheard their SingStar attempts.

Abby's Girl Scout troop hosted another Brownie troop at Linden Grove Health Care Center this past Saturday morning. This time Abby and Dana had the Brownies paint terracotta pots with paint pens (less mess). Some of the residents also painted. They turned out really cute! And the primroses we purchased were so colorful! Then Abby and Dana led the Brownies in an action story (certain words would signal an action for the Brownies to do as the story was read) while the residents watched and listened. We actually now recognize residents who come for our activities regularly.

Paige's team lost a close basketball game Saturday afternoon. You can tell the progress the girls have made, the games are much more action-packed. They only play two more weekends, then it's over.

Abby is off to the Shrine Circus today with Student Council. They are accompanying a disabled group of kids. Jeff is driving Paige to Sunday School at our church while Bryn and I go to mass and a Mission Trip meeting at another. Then Paige and I plan to spend the afternoon painting and decoupaging a purse, birdhouse, and picture frame for an art auction to benefit schools in Africa.

it's ugly out there

It's been pouring rain since early this morning and it's turned our pretty mountains of snow into a dirty, slushy mess. Weather says 3 to 7 inches of snow tonight, but temperature's got to get lower first.

Last Tuesday Milwaukee got 6 inches of snow and I, of course, had cross-country driving duties. I left work (downtown) at 2pm so I could pick up Paige from school (Men Falls) at 2:45 to get her to the orthodontist (Wauwatosa) by 3:25 and back home so I could pickup the 5 UWAY carpoolers back in the Falls and get them back into Milwaukee by 6:00pm. We were a half hour late. And I had a headache. But we were all safe!




Last Wednesday we only had to go as far as the high school for a Band Concert. Abby actually brought HER OWN French horn to school for the first time since I don't know when... before Christmas... It's a lot simpler playing your own instrument at the concerts. Sometimes Abby doesn't even know who's horn she grabs for band class on a typical schoolday. Remember Abby being such a germophobe about her mouthpiece??? What happened? The concert was quite enjoyable. Abby's boyfriend, Alex, presented Abby with a dozen roses for Valentine's Day (the next day). They are still quite beautiful!

Thursday was Valentines Day. Bryn's turn for the orthodontist: impressions for her final retainer. No more wearing that positioner! She is a happy girl. I brought little treat bags of candies in for the guys at work. When I got home, Jeff treated me to a pound of chocolate-covered raisins (my favorite)! After Abby worked, Alex had her over for Valentine's pizza. Awww.... This day was also the due date to turn in Senior Sendoff messages. These are baby pic and personal message entries to graduating seniors for the high school yearbook. Paige really helped me go through our photo albums. We had a lot of fun.

Paige invited me to her Honors Breakfast at school Friday morning. She achieved above a 3.5GPA first semester, so all those 7th graders were treated to breakfast with a guest. Paige never likes me taking pictures, so this is what I got. I walked out with one of Paige's friend's parents who admired me for hosting the sleepover party Saturday night. What? I needed more information. Since poor Paige was so neglected last weekend with the big high school dance we promised her a big night with her friends. She invited 6 friends over for Saturday night. NOT A SLEEPOVER - til 10pm. I later found out that Paige had asked that one friend to stay, which was OK with Jeff & I. They had pizza and snacks, played DDR, SingStar and just goofed around.

After the school breakfast Friday, I returned home so I could welcome the installers for the blinds in the basement. They look so nice! Kind of embarrassing that it took us 7 years to get to those. Then I lunched with another "Beth" who co-led Abby's Girl Scout troop with me for many years. Her husband is a manager at the grocery store I visit regulary, so I typically see him more than her. We had a nice visit catching up on what our kids are up to. See why I can't work on Fridays?

Bryn and Abby had big babysitting jobs lined up at neighboring homes this weekend, but they both cancelled. Flu. I thanked the moms for not sharing. I think the moms were more disappointed than Abby & Bryn. So Friday night Bryn watched Pirates 3 with Jeff and I, and Saturday night Abby watched Catch and Release with us. Sound familiar, Kristin?

Abby attended another scholarship competition Saturday morning, this time for Marquette's School of Education. This one included a test and interview. They say the odds are good: 57 applicants for 2 scholarships. But knowing the caliber of Marquette, I'd say the competition is stiff. We're still constantly browsing for more scholarships. Abby turned one for UWLaCrosse this week.

Bryn went to see the movie Juno at the theaters with a group of friends, then over to one of their houses for pizza and hot-tubbing. Bryn's getting a lot more social. Good for her. But hot-tubbing?....

Jeff and I are really trying to concentrate on being more financially responsible. Mainly because we just don't know what to expect with college next year. We've spent some pretty exciting Friday and Saturday nights figuring out new strategies. It is wonderful just to have the time to make a plan.

and we danced

Abby has received some very important mail from Marquette! The week before, Abby was awarded an Ignatius Academic Distinction Scholarship for $9000 per year for 4 years for her good grades. And early just this past week Marquette informed her she had also been awarded the Magis enhancement worth an additional $1500 per year because of her community service. Way to go Abby!


Another week, another snow day. This storm began late last Tuesday. Snowfall predictions said at least 8 inches. Bryn has UWAY rehearsal every Tuesday evening. Last Tuesday it was cancelled due to the severe cold and subsequent rehearsals are now extended to make up for that loss. But this week's rehearsal was shortened because of the accumulating snow. We only received about 4 inches overnight and even had a break early Wednesday morning, but schools were cancelled because there was much more to come. I debated about when to go in to work and finally decided to leave after rush hour. I called work at 8:00 to warn them I was just leaving and was obviously late. My boss, John, called my cell a few minutes after as I was backing out of the driveway and told me not to come in. I took him up on it. Jeff went to a meeting at 10 am and was at work til 2pm. The snow really picked up around noon. Since it was Ash Wednesday, I took Abby & Bryn to receive ashes at the nearby church at noon. There were probably only a dozen people there! The priest just motioned up to come right up for ashes. No service. Jeff took Paige at 4pm and could barely get the front door open due to the snow! Theo was in heaven romping around in the snow as one of us was outside constantly trying to keep up with the shoveling. The snow kept falling til about 8pm. Snowplows really didn't come out til about that time and you should see how many mailboxes they took out because you couldn't tell where the roads really were! Weather reports Wednesday morning reported our snowfall accumulations at 17 inches. (The picture is for Bryce.)

I opted not to make up my missed hours from Wednesday and kept my day off Friday. I visited many businesses to ask for Silent Auction donations for the high school Student Council's Winter Carnival. I think I only have 2 more to visit, then a few follow-up calls for those who couldn't commit right away. Abby and Bryn's jr high art teacher runs an art gallery downtown MF so I emailed her. She made me smile when she offered a donation, but only if I join the local Art Guild... I was meaning to anyways.





I picked Bryn up from school Friday and she came out beaming holding a flower. I thought maybe someone had sent her one through school. Nope. The high school had a pep rally and Bryn and her date, Tyler, were voted on Turnabout Court! Abby's friends, Lori, Ali and Kendal were also voted in! (Abby is disqualified because her date is not the same grade as her.)

Yesterday, Saturday, was a whirlwind. Abby insisted on accompanying Bryn to help decorate for the dance at 6:30am!!!! All Student Council members decorate for about 6 hours the morning of Homecoming and Turnabout and they do it this early so the girls still have time to get themselves ready. Jeff had to pick up Abby from decorating at 7:15 as Abby had to be at Marquette at 8:00am for a scholarship competition. The actual competition was from 9:00 to 11:00am and included about 50 contestants for Spanish scholarships. Parents had seminars they could listen in at. I dragged Paige grocery shopping with me as that was my only available time to go. Bryn was decorating til just after noon. Abby and Bryn embellished their date's plain white rose buttoneers with ribbon. Abby's hair (updo) appointment was at 1:30 and was done about 3:00pm. Bryn had to be at her girlfriend's at 3:00pm to get dressed, do their hair and makeup. Both Abby and Bryn's pictures were at 4:30, but luckily they were 2 houses away from each other so Jeff, Paige and I just ran from one house to the other. Don't Abby and Bryn both look stunning? Both groups had dinner reservations at 6:00pm. My friend, Carrie, and I were left as bachelorettes for the rest of the evening as Jeff and Carrie's husband went to the Badgers game in Madison. Carrie and I hung out at Abby's friend's (Ali) house with other parents and then went out for a margarita and dinner. Then it's on to the grand march back at the high school at 10:30pm. The decorations were so awesome! Abby and Bryn even kept their promise to me for a picture together with their dates. After court was announced, Abby's friend Kendal and her date were crowned King and Queen!!! Bryn's group came over after the dance for a while and us parents chatted. We were all happy to go to bed and Jeff got back about 1am.

Needless to say, it's a lazy day today.

get ready

I accompanied Abby and Bryn to their weekly Sunday evening Student Council meeting again. The parents again met separately from the students as we had different agendas. This high school carnival is a bigger event than I expected. All us parents received our donation assignments as well as another aspect of the carnival to chair. The Student Council advisor went down the list of committees and I just didn't know what to do. Then Alex's mom volunteered for tickets and asked if I'd co-chair with her. I accepted. Still don't know what I'm doing, but glad I have a partner.

I got together with Dana and Abby for Girl Scouts and they updated our Gold Award blog (link at right). Hoping that this will help recruit new troops to sign up for our Feb and Mar events. Gold Award paperwork is due March 31st and I'm so proud of how far they've come and excited that they're so close to finishing.

No school AGAIN last Wednesday due to the extreme cold and wind. I planned for Abby to complete some scholarship essays, but Hallmark found her first. Abby ended up working 9 to 5 that day for others who couldn't make it in. I believe the last day of school is now a Monday, June 9th.

Bryn had a road lesson last Thursday. The instructor took her to Dairy Queen for being so inconsistent with when she picks Bryn up - sometimes and hour early, sometimes a half hour late. Two more road lessons to go. Bryn's road test is scheduled for March 12th!

My mom and dad came down to visit for the weekend and arrived Friday afternoon to allow me to attend my favorite step class at the Y. Why that weekend you ask? My dad LOVES St. Anthony's fish fry! The Catholic church nearby holds a family-style fish fry the first Friday of every month during the schoolyear. You get all-you-can-eat fish, fries, coleslaw, potato salad and rye bread along with a homemade dessert that you choose from a cart. Kristin, Carlo, Bella and Lucy came too. Carlo can't pass up a chance to go out to eat, even though we heard they had a tough time eating at the mall with the girls last weekend.

I turned in the final band trip payment today for Abby and Bryn. Now it's just spending money. (Remember that when their birthdays come around!) Their Disney trip is during spring break: Mar 24th to Mar 30th.





Paige tested for her blue belt last Saturday morning. She broke her board with her first try! She had to spar (fight) for the first time and they paired her with a 30-year-old mom! Typically, they pair you by age. Paige did fine. Then we traveled back to Menomonee Falls for her basketball game in the afternoon. Her team got to play the school team from Pewaukee and they tied 10-10! That's awesome! It was a good game and nice for the girls to strategize against someone else.

Sunday's focus was on getting Bryn ready for the high school Turnabout Dance. We had a list. First to DSW for silver sandals. Bryn is a no-nonsense shopper and found them immediately. We got her and Abby a silver purse for the evening as well. We drove kitty-corner over to Mayfair and found Bryn a wool pea coat that'll do for wearing over her dress. An improved fashion statement versus her letter jacket! And finally to Bartz's for the garter! I think she's set! And the grand finale was finally getting to see Bryn model it all together before the SuperBowl. She looks great!

Kristin, Carlo, Bella and Lucy came over to watch the SuperBowl with Mom, Dad, Jeff, myself, Abby, Bryn and Paige. A little while later, there was a knock at the garage door and it was Abby's friend, Ali bringing cookies! Abby apparently had extended our SuperBowl party invitation. More information was needed. Abby shared with us that we were also to expect Alex, Evan and Adam. While Abby's friends are always welcome, the issue of feeding 3 high school boys now entered the picture. We had Ali and Abby run to the grocery store for more dinner ingredients and we were set. Of course, during their outing, the 3 boys arrived and awkwardly were shuffled down the basement to wait for the hostesses. It all worked out and the game was fun. I mostly listened to the game as I was having too much fun feeding the rabbits, doing puzzles and tickling Bella.