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.

no pics

The kids had off school last Monday so they could ease into 2nd semester. Also to recover from the Packers dismal loss the night before. We accumulated a new 10˝ of snow so it felt like a snow day.


Because of the snow, Abby, Bryn and I drove together to the High School Student Council meeting together. Parents were invited to recruit our help with the Student Council's biggest annual event: The Winter Carnival. I wasn't sure going in exactly what was going to be asked of me. I was one of only 2 rookies (Alex's mom was the other) at the meeting, so I was a little lost. The event is totally free to kids and the Student Council runs several games and blow-up rides. The parents come in with the Silent Auction: asking for donations. We're each assigned a territory to cover. I'd really rather make signs. So the kids meeting finished up a bit before ours and they wanted to go to Dairy Queen - I just wanted to get home. Most parents did like we did and drove together with their students so parents and kids needed to arrange carpools. I ended up driving Alex's mom home while Alex drove to Dairy Queen. I was invited to step into Alex's home and had a nice chat.

Paige and Bryn both made another trip to the orthodontist. Paige got her broken bracket repaired and got her color changed to orange. Bryn was told she's doing such a great job wearing her positioner, that she can keep doing it.

I had a crazy work day Thursday where 2 clients just couldn't stop making changes to their projects that were due that same day. I never had a moment before 5p to even try to hand them over to someone else! When I got the projects off, I left without a thought of another project that I just had to ignore for the day. I called in to work Friday morning and John, Mike and Kevin were kind enough to finish it up for me so I didn't have to go downtown. So I enjoyed a great day (I'm serious) working out, running errands, cleaning the kitchen and my refrigerator.

Friday night Paige slept over at a friend's so we let Abby and Bryn know they could have people over. Abby went to the HS basketball game and Bryn opted to stay home. Abby did call to let us know she was having some friends over after the game. Abby arrived first and prepared the snacks. Then followed Alex (of course) and his friend Adam. Then Tyler and Nick and Evan. Then Mark. What's going on here? No girlfriends? Ali and Kendal did come over about a half hour later but could only stay for a half-hour. Abby and the guys hung out til 11p.

Saturday Bryn came along to order Tyler and Alex's buttoneers for Turnabout. We went pretty neutral and maybe Abby and Bryn will embellish with ribbons or something else creative. We then watched Paige play her basketball game where she scored twice!

Saturday night we drove to my boss's house for my company holiday party. John's girlfriend made a delicious Venezuelan dish, paella, filled with scallops, crayfish, clams, mussels and chorizo. It was so yummy! The quiet, mild composure of Norman Design employees was confirmed by the evening's conversation pretty much controlled by John's girlfriend, Mike's wife and Kevin's friend. Jeff indulged a little too much in the paella and didn't have a very restful night last night.

On the drive home from church today, Abby reminded us that it is the 27th today and she would not waste her entire day with us. What? Another day not to forget: Abby & Alex's 4-month anniversary. I suggested using that new Y membership and run side-by-side on the treadmills. I don't think they liked my idea.

Abby should've contacted you all via email about Girl Scout cookie orders. The sale ends tomorrow, Monday, Jan 28th.

I'm having fun looking through old pictures scouring for the perfect picture of Abby for her last high school yearbook. There's a special section called "Senior Sendoffs" where you submit a picture and a special message for your graduating senior. I've gone through a box of Abby's old pictures and now I'm off to find my old photo albums!

finals

Monday Bryn visited the orthodontist again. Now he's replaced her clear retainer with a mouthguard-like piece called a positioner that she needs to bite into for 4 hours a day plus wear to bed a night. We check in with him again this coming week. Wonder what'll change then. We also are taking Paige in to fix a loose bracket. We sure are making a lot of trips to his office!

This past week marked the end of first semester. Abby and Bryn had final exams Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Jeff and I helped by keeping them at home more.:) We don't have the results yet. Abby met with her guidance counselor to make some 2nd semester schedule changes, namely dropping an art class because it conflicts with a required Composition class, and discussing the option to drop Calculus. The couselor advised her to stay with it. She'll have a study hall now, whereas she didn't 1st semester, and hopefully Abby will use that for help with math. They're off school tomorrow (Monday).

Thursday we received a very important piece of mail: Abby's acceptance letter from Marquette! I'm happy she's accepted at her first choice. Jeff's been busy working the number to get our taxes and financial aid forms set and in March we should hear exactly how much we can expect to be paying. We're sending info to LaCrosse as well.

Abby and Bryn went Turnabout dress shopping together (with Kendal) after finals were through Friday. Abby and Bryn both found dresses they liked and put them on hold. Kendal wasn't so lucky. Abby called my cell to let me know that the store would only hold the dresses for 2 hours! So I got in the car and headed for Brookfield Square. Unfortunately, I didn't get there before the threesome left and I just wanted to see the dresses on before I bought them. Many stores, like this one, have a no return policy on dresses. I looked them over and paid the bill but Jeff and I are still waiting for the home fashion show.


Paige's basketball team, Mercury, won their first game yesterday. Close: 11 to 10. Her division is 6th & 7th grade girls and only 20 girls signed up. So the same 2 teams play each other every Saturday afternoon. The organization is trying to coordinate games with local parochial schools to mix things up, but we haven't heard anything yet. Then we took the kids to the movie, American Treasure yesterday. I love those movies. Bryn and I ate too much popcorn.

Packer game's coming on soon. Go Pack! Jeff and I tried our darnedest to get Jeff to the game, but tickets were just out of our reach. Our two good friends, John and Dave, are up there now! Lucky. It's going to be cold, but how exciting! I've gotten a lot of use out of my Packer wardrobe these past couple weeks. We're headed over to Dave & Carrie's to watch the game this week (they were here last week).

The temperatures have made a few changes at the Saunders. We've been pulling Abby's car into the garage with these subzero temperatures because her car doors freeze and won't stay shut. Because Abby's car is compact, Jeff is able to fit his car in as well. Jeff's car just doesn't like to start when it's cold. Battery. Abby told us about how she drove holding the passenger door shut the other evening. I don't like the mental picture. The rabbits have also moved indoors and Theo seems to have no boundaries in the house, but for some reason really likes to play outside a lot more. His frisbee is like throwing a hockey puck.

back in the swing

The holidays were such a refreshing and much-needed break from our busy lives. But routine is good too. And so it begins... Sunday night blogging.


A week ago, I went with Bryn to a meeting for her summer mission trip. There's lots of fundraising and coordinating to do before July. This year Bryn's group is going to Coahoma, Mississippi – a bit farther than Cairo, Illinois where they helped out last summer. At the meeting, Bryn presented her committee's t-shirt design for this year's theme "Move." Cool, huh? They'll be printed up soon, as the church likes the mission trippers to wear them whenever they do their fundraising. They're going to try a bike ride in June instead of sponsoring the kids bowling as in previous years. I'm sure many of you will know all about it when Bryn's looking for contributions.


Paige had her first Band Concert for the year last Wednesday and it was great. She was even featured in a smaller Woodwind Ensemble. Paige is currently 6th chair out of 18 clarinets in her 7th grade band. Her lesson teacher says Paige is adapting well playing with her braces.

Bryn sat down to supper Wednesday night and announced, "I have some news." That gets a parent's attention! Bryn asked a boy to the Turnabout Dance that'll be Feb. 9th. Good for Bryn. I like her confidence. (Oh! The boy, Tyler, said yes.) Bryn apparently got his locker combo from his brother and put a sign in his locker with the big question. Abby got really excited "We can go dress shopping together!" Abby asked her boyfriend on Friday. I teased her that Alex was probably worried and insecure why she hadn't asked yet. I don't have the details, but I know it involves a Packer fleece blanket she made him and a stuffed giraffe. Difficult to put that together...

Jeff and I have been delivering Christmas presents late to the girls this year. We upgraded our little iMac in the kitchen and moved it into the dining room for a little more privacy (but not TOO much!) and less interruption. The girls love it because it has a camera in it and it's fast. I love it because it has some really intuitive parental controls and the new operating system - Leopard. It's so pretty. It was delivered to Jeff's work Friday within minutes of carrying the box into the house, the girls were pressuring us to have it up and running. Lucky it was easy to set up. I've had a lot of fun starting from scratch and trying to keep things set up right so it stays organized. And today we signed the family back up for membership at the Y as another Christmas present. Bryn wants to keep training for track and Abby says she'll go with!

Jeff's company, Ring & DuChateau, held their holiday party Friday night at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Fancy. It really is a beautiful setting in that atrium. The food was delicious! We roamed from the mashed potato martini station to the crab cake station, to the chateau briand station and of course, the dessert station. Each station had the one main entree along with a variety of sauces/salsas to accompany it. Yummy! We were also welcome to view the current touring exhibit which was a little disturbing (all works were completed in a mental institution), but the drawings were very detailed and intriguing.


My company party was scheduled for the next evening, but needless to say, had to be postponed due to the Packer playoff game. My boss John is not a Packer fan so he was disappointed to have to reschedule, but that game was worth it! The beginning made us all kind of nervous, but it was just so picture-perfect with the snow coming down in Lambeau Field and the Packers just doing their thing. Since our plans had changed, we decided to make a social event of the Packer game and invite a few people. I put out way too much food. I felt bad for Abby's boyfriend, Alex, who really wanted to watch the game but the rest of the kids in the basement preferred playing Guitar Hero or badly karoake-ing to the boombox, so Alex came up and watched with us parents for a few plays.

The Girl Scout cookie sale is on and this is Abby's last year selling. I put a link at the right so you can view the varieties offered this year. They're $3.50/box. Abby will contact you for orders.

happy '08

So we came back from up North, went back to work for a couple days, then traveled south.


The most important event about being home those couple days was that Bryn had her braces removed! She looks so pretty! She is a little disappointed in having to relearn to play her trombone without all that extra stuff crowding her mouth.


I had purchased tickets in the fall to the musical, Wicked, playing at the Oriental Theatres in Chicago for after Christmas. It turned out to be a perfect time to go since the kids didn't have their typical activities during break either. We attended the Sunday matinee and it was fantastic! Abby and Bryn are very familiar with the music because they've played it in band the past couple years. The story is basically a prequel to The Wizard of Oz (link at right). We left Milwaukee at 10:30am and drove right into downtown to park. You just never know what Chicago traffic is going to be like. We walked around a bit and found a nearby McDonald's for lunch. A homeless person offered Abby some bubblegum and asked for food from me while we were dining. After that, we walked around and admired some of the famous public sculptures. The Oriental Theatre was very ornate, as a theatre should be. Abby, Bryn and Paige all purchased Wicked-logo clothing as souvenirs.


We called Craig as we exited the parking ramp. It was snowing. Again. But it was really pretty with all the Chicago lights. Clark greeted us at the door at Craig's house and we left to take Craig out for his birthday dinner: pizza. We came back and admired all the hard work Craig has done remodeling his home in Lyons. We've seen it since the beginning, so we can see the progress. Craig shared some videos of some of his toy inventions and finished up the evening with Clark's Dog Show.


The morning we were surprised with an encore performance of Clark's Dog Show. We got a little tired of it being "all about Clark" so we began joining in and dancing with Clark's animals. Clark didn't care for this, so he would stop the show, turn off his strobe light and go to his desk downstairs. He would come back with a written referral for whoever was interfering with his show. We had fun, but it was time to go by noon.

We got back to Milwaukee on New Year's Eve day by 3pm and everyone got in line to shower. Abby had plans with her friends elsewhere, and Bryn and Paige invited guests to our house. Jeff and I agreed to this as long as we got to go to a movie first. We saw "Charlie Wilson's War." Interesting and worth seeing. The guests arrived at 8pm and we got to stay up to drive them home at 1am! I texted Abby at midnight to wish her "Happy New Year" and reminded her to "Be Safe." She texted me back that she had "kissed a random drunk guy" when the ball dropped, which I didn't think was very safe. Sassy.

New Year's Day our whole house didn't wake til 11am so it was really a half-day. I just did the typical household chores and filled in my 2008 calendar with all the kid's schedules. That is a full-day task!

Jan 2 was back to work, but the kids are off yet til tomorrow. Abby, Bryn & Paige all went in to the salon today and had their hair cut. Abby blew her gift certificate from Christmas right away and got her highlights.