Paige opted to cancel her Homecoming updo appointment to get a haircut that couldn't wait this week. Also, since she and her girlfriends didn't see anything at the mall shopping for dresses last weekend, I picked a couple up for her and luckily, one is a keeper. Paige is all set to go to the dance with a group of friends. I'm still waiting for an update from Bryn.

Tuesday night Jeff and I had separate assignments. Jeff attended the high school Band trip meeting while I went to my Art Guild meeting where I nervously presented a "work-in-progress" of their new site I've designed and have been programming. I had hoped to have it launched for this meeting, but now I'm resolved to have it set for the October meeting. The artists all gave me nice compliments, but not the constructive criticism I'm used to from my work clientele. So I guess that's cool because I pretty much can do whatever I want with the content and the design. Jeff got to socialize with a lot of our friends at the Band trip meeting. The kids go over spring break again and will visit Boston and New York. The itinerary looks fabulous! They won't be having a performance for us to attend, so Jeff and I will just drop in on them during a different activity while in New York. Warning: Be prepared for lots of fundraising requests from Bryn and Paige for this band trip and their mission trips!

Jeff followed Paige's schedule while I walked Bryn's at the high school Open House Wednesday night. Reminded me to follow up on Abby's CAPP credits for Spanish! There sure are a lot more kids at the high school with those 9th graders there now!

The Saunders took a turn hosting one of the weekly Cross Country Carb Crams Thursday evening. I prepared 3 pans of taco lasagna and served it with yellow rice and lots of fruit. Jeff helped to rearrange furniture to make more eating areas available in case the entire team of 26 decided to come. The girls were very rowdy, but polite.

The rain held out Friday for Jeff to get in 18 holes of golf on Friday afternoon with a couple of Dads from the area. Abby found a ride home from La Crosse and arrived about 4pm. She nearly toppled her boyfriend Mark over when he arrived here.

We woke Paige and Abby up early to watch Bryn run Cross Country out at Nagawaukee Saturday morning (a stop at Panera for bagels and coffee helped). Bryn always looks great, but she's very disappointed in her times this year. Too much pressure on herself. Her coach called her at home later in the day to check up on her. Paige had a friend sleepover Saturday night seeing as they were both committed to being at the same event this morning at 8:00am. Bryn volunteered also and drove them to the high school for Student Council's annual Senior Citizen Prom. Senior citizens in the area mark their calendars for this event where the students join in dancing and there's lots of food. Abby came along with Kristin and Kristin's sister-in-law to the Cheery Cherry Art Fair. Always some good finds at this one!

Happy Birthday Maggie!!!! (At least she'll she I got this posted on her actual birthday, card to follow...)


Last Sunday we attended our church's first Generations of Faith program for the year. This program is replacing Sunday School at our parish. We get to mingle with other families and share breakfast while conversing and doing activities related to our faith. We were seated with Birschbachs and Erin and Bryn now have matching love ferns from the pots we decorated at the program. After lunch, Paige got to babysit Lucy and Bella while Kristin and Carlo walked through a Parade of Homes. Lucy only cried for the first 5 minutes, then both Bella and Lucy had a lot of fun skype-ing (video chatting on computer) with Abby and bouncing on the trampoline.

Tuesday morning was a mess. And it was all my fault. I saw on the orthodontist appointment on the calendar for 8:40am, so I let Paige sleep in a little longer and Bryn went off to school. I notified school about Paige's tardiness. As Paige and I were about to leave, I grabbed the reminder card from the orthodontist and discovered - it's not Paige who goes to the orthodontist today - it's Bryn! So I quickly texted Bryn and let her know. Of course, she has a test that hour. I drive Paige to school and explain my poor parenting skills to the Attendance Office. Yea.. I'm organized...

Paige is going to join the Demo Team with TaeKwonDo which means that at the beginning of testings, she'll perform routines and/or tricks with other black belts. She'll get a new blue uniform for this. She's excited: I get to buy her her own set of nunchucks!

Bryn and Paige had early release from school Friday so had some extra social time. I took advantage of this by working on the Art Guild web site. So hard to find large blocks of time to devote to this, but I am making serious progress. The first Art Guild meeting for the season is this coming Tuesday, and unfortunately I won't have the site live quite then. So I'm shooting for our October meeting. May bring in Jeff's laptop Tuesday to give them a preview. Abby and I had quite a text conversation that afternoon. She was homesick. I texted that her boyfriend stopped over at our house to purchase a Cross Country shirt from Bryn and she replied "You suck." I think she misses him too. Friday night we all went to the home football game. Separately of course. Paige won't even been seen driving to the game with us! Our team is undefeated so far this year and we played a really exciting game against a rival (Sussex Hamilton) and won again! The student fans stormed the field afterward. It was really fun to be there.

Saturday morning Bryn's Cross Country bus left at 6:20am for her meet at UW-Parkside (Kenosha). But Bryn wasn't there. She overslept and Jeff and I didn't set our alarm, so... I got to frantically get dressed and drive south at 6:40am! Thank goodness for Pop Tarts! Got her there in plenty of time and apologized to the head coach. He embarrassingly confessed that he didn't make the bus either! The bus had to drive to his house and wake him up! Bryn's times are coming down, but she's not happy with her progress. After the meet, Jeff took her out to the Badger Bus stop and she made plans to visit some friends at UWMadison this weekend. She couldn't arrive early enough to make the game because of her morning meet. We texted her to make sure she arrived OK and her friends found her. I bet she had a lot of fun. We're picking her up at the bus stop this evening.

Today we watched Bella and Lucy again as Kristin and Carlo get closer to building a new home. I'm glad for the interruption, because I have so many tasks that involve working on the computer, I really need to be forced to take a break.

So these are the birds that make the sounds we wake up to practically every morning now. I think they're cranes and these 3 hang out by the creek.

Jeff and I went to watch Bryn run at her Cross Country meet at Greenfield Park last Friday Sept 4th. She cut over 20 seconds off her time from the previous meet. We picked up a pizza on the way home which made Bryn a very happy girl when she arrived home. Abby went with Mark and Paige with her friends to the annual high school Corn Roast followed by the first home football game. Jeff and I couldn't pass up the beautiful night and also went over to the field after our pizza to watch our team score a big win.

We woke up early Saturday morning to drive Abby back to La Crosse. Her scheduled move-in time was 10-11am, so we had to get out of Dodge by 7:30 at the latest. Getting Abby's stuff up to her room was a breeze as UWL has such a nice system of student volunteers who carry your items to your floor for you as long as you label them with your room #. Abby is in a new dorm this year and is rooming with an RA due to a housing shortage. She happily accepted early last year already. Abby's room overlooks the just opened, newly constructed football/track field and stadium. Just yesterday Abby was to partake in her first college football game at home - tailgating and all. Abby brought my bike to school this year as hers was stolen last year on the day Jeff and my Dad came to move her out.

Paige and I chased down the UWL mascot for this couldn't-be-missed photo op. Paige was sad she didn't do a "thumbs up" with the eagle.

After driving to La Crosse Saturday morning, we drove back across the state to Shawano in the evening to arrive at my parents' cabin. Again, the weather has been so perfect, Bryn didn't have to work or practice, so we enjoyed the lake. The lake was so busy that the waves were optimum for jet-skiiing! Jeff took Paige out for a wild ride. Kristin, Carlo, Lucy and Bella were also up north and we took a long pontoon ride Sunday afternoon.

We did leave Sunday night just so we could have Monday to get the house back in order after Abby's move.
Bryn opted out of UWAY (band program at UWM) this year with her added responsibility of holding a job. I think it's a wise decision. Senior year is a busy one.
Bryn had another meet yesterday and did about the same. She wasn't feeling the best and ended up feeling dizzy and puking toward the end of her race. Yuck! We talked about concentrating on hydrating better the day before the next race.
Colleges begin accepting applications Tuesday (Sep 15th), so Bryn's been busy with paperwork. She turned in ones to Carroll University (Waukesha) and University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) last week through her guidance counselor. Today she finished up her application to Marquette (Milwaukee), then she only has one left: to UW La Crosse. All these offer programs in her intended major: Physical Therapy with Marquette and Carroll having a shortened 6-year program that you're accepted into right away as a freshman.

Glory hallelujah! Our digital camera has not been working for a couple weeks now. It just gives us a mysterious error message that apparently is only decipherable by the Canon repair dept and they're not sharing! We pretty much knew we were going to have to purchase another and I was OK temporarily taking pictures on my iPhone. But Jeff the Engineer couldn't let the camera go without a fight, so he took it apart last Saturday afternoon. Not seeing anything obviously sticking out or disconnected, he simply reassembled the mess and it now works! Who am I to question!

Bryn toured Carroll University in Waukesha last Friday and actually liked it! They have a unique 6-year, freshman-entry doctorate program in Physical Therapy which is what she wants to go into. Carroll was a great contrast for her to Univ of Minnesota, which she still likes also. It was fun for me to see all the beautiful building improvements since I went there back in the 80s. Bryn even got to meet with the Cross Country/Track coach who was very interested in her and talked running strategies with Bryn. Since we were so close to Kristin's, we stopped in for a quick lunch. Unfortunately, Lucy wasn't so welcoming and cried most of the time.

Bryn and Paige had their first day of school this Tuesday (Sept 1st). Each had a half-day with Paige going in the morning and Bryn in the afternoon. They both go to the high school now with Bryn being a senior and Paige a freshman.

With Bryn and Paige in school this week,

Abby has had a lot of time to herself to get ready to go back to UWL. One of her projects was making a quilt/blanket from squares she cut from old t-shirts. Kids receive t-shirts from so many events, the blanket really is a great idea for a keepsake. Abby went over to Kristin's last

Sunday after church to use her sewing machine to finish it up.

Abby also had several pictures printed and replaced all the pictures in her frames.

I collected the pots Abby and her friends decorated last summer and potted new plants for this year. Only one of the four plants from their freshman year survived! I'm hoping I made better (hearty) plant selections for them this year.

And finally we took Abby and Mark out for a "back-to-college" dinner at Stir Crazy last night. It was delicious. We all had fun watching the chefs torch our dinners in huge flames and then try to eat it with chopsticks. Hard to believe she's leaving us again tomorrow. It's been nice having her home.

We have been getting some much needed rain lately. I took this picture as I was exiting the liquor store buying wine. It's actually a giant double rainbow, but I'm not sure you can make it out here on the picture. Aint' it pretty?

Paige and Bryn are all registered for high school. Bryn will be a senior while Paige will be a freshman. Their first day of school is Sept 1st. Paige had a special freshman orientation today that was basically team-building exercises. This year, the high schoolers will begin their day at 8:01am, versus 7:20 previous years, and go until 3:15pm. And they made study halls mandatory. This totally screwed up Bryn's schedule to the point where she was having to come in early (0 hour) to fit in the study hall! We took care of that!

Seems that Bryn has rededicated herself to running this year. She's been chosen as one of the four captains for the girls Cross Country team this year. Those four have led practices all summer long. They've inspired a record number of freshmen to come out. Their first meet is tomorrow and I can't wait!

And Abby's looking forward to getting back to La Crosse. We move her back Sept 5th and her first day of classes is Sept 8th. She'll be moving into a new dorm with a new roommate. Still the 4th floor though... ugghh! Jeff was helping Abby get ready to go back by purchasing a new laptop computer screen online for Abby (she stepped on hers) and installing it himself. Way to go Dad! It was very detailed and the parts were super tiny. Abby attended a leadership retreat last weekend with fellow CRU members as she hopes to help with the Latino community next year.

Last weekend we had lots of parties to be seen at. Paige got invited to a party that lasted all weekend! Her friend invited her up to their family's place near Prairie du Chein on the Mississippi. Paige had a blast fishing, playing card games, and driving the tractor on the farm and the golf card around the trailer park. Bryn went paintballing and to a bonfire. Jeff and I had friends over for wine Friday night, to a neighbor's big barbecue Saturday night, and to Bryn's Mission Trip picnic Sunday.

I got to play hookey from work yesterday afternoon and play golf with a client and my co-worker, Kevin. Our client is quite good, but was patient with us who don't lead that Country Club life. The course was beautiful and very challenging. I just enjoyed being able to play again.

I can't keep my regular Sunday blogging schedule anymore. So it happens when it happens.

So last Friday (7th) was the funeral for Abby's friend's dad. This cut Abby's visit with Meg & family in Indy a little short, but it let us explore other means of travel. Abby ended up taking the Amtrak from Indy to Chicago. Meg had to have her to the train station by 5:30am!!! And I took the Metra train into Chicago from Waukegan and met Abby at Union Station. We dragged her bags from Union Station back to Ogilvie Station where we took the Metra back to Waukegan, and drove from there. Worked out great but Abby wouldn't let us take one extra minute to get a bite to eat because she wanted to get to the funeral and be there for her friend as soon as possible.

Jeff treated Theo to a nice cool sudsy bath in the kiddie pool last weekend. I think he really liked the cool water. And now he smells so nice!

Wednesday morning at 8am Bryn and her Cross Country teammates started their annual 24-hour marathon. They make a schedule so that someone is running the entire 24 hours, but each runner takes a 30-minute shift. In between they had fun playing Ultimate Frisbee, Ultimate Football and kickball. They also liked when the automatic sprinklers came on. The coaches brought in a spaghetti dinner. Paige is not digging the Cross Country thing right now and is holding out from going to practices. I'm having fun updating the Cross Country blog for the team and the school has even made it the Girls Cross Country link from their website!

So while Bryn was running and Abby was at State Fair with her posse, Jeff, Paige, her friend Miranda and I went to the Brewers game Wednesday night. A print vendor offered suite tickets and a preferred parking pass to my work so Kevin and John were there with friends as well. We enjoyed a good game - they almost won in the 9th - with great seats!

Jeff and I have been searching to replace our Honda CRV. After it barely passed the emissions test and the mechanic's quote of $2300 to fit it, we've had to get down to business. Jeff's always looking on the internet and we've test drove a couple so far. Think we've narrowed it down to a 2008 Mazda 3 or Subaru Impreza. Both are smaller hatchback cars with good gas mileage.

My life just isn't following a routine lately.

I am so thankful to my good friend, Tim, from high school and college called me July 22nd to let me know that our mutual friend, Guy, was going in for open heart surgery at Froedtert. I was able to have a long visit with Guy that Friday, the day after his surgery. We wished our meeting was under different circumstances, but we were grateful we were pulled together again. Both Jeff and I went back separately to visit him in the hospital the following week and this weekend we're going to visit him back at his house. Guy's doing well and feeling strong, but there's a lot to monitor during his recovery.

Jeff took Bryn to tour the University of Minnesota last Friday. They really liked it. I think Bryn's going to have a hard time deciding. Bryn came home with a t-shirt. Abby, Paige and I then met them up at the cabin Friday night. Meg & William were already up there and the kids had a blast together. Then Meg & William took Abby back to Indy for the week. Abby loves spending time with those kids and made sure it fit into her summer schedule.

Unfortunately, Abby's best friend's dad took very ill last weekend also and passed away yesterday. So Abby and I are going to meet at Union Station in Chicago Friday morning so she can make it back for the funeral that afternoon. I'm going to take the Metra train from Waukegan in and Abby's taking the Amtrak from Indy.

Bryn started her new job on Sunday. She will be working in the pharmacy at Walgreens. Great job! She was recommended for the position by a friend. She's done a lot of training this week: on the computer, on the register and shelving. I think she likes it. And it's pays way above minimum wage!

Paige got invited to go to Great America yesterday with one of her friends and her family. She had a blast and rode every roller coaster! And another milestone... Paige went out on her first date tonight. To a movie. We asked her to make it a group date which she complied to. Of course we haven't heard many details yet, but I think it went well.

My office is really shaping up! John drove down to IKEA and purchased our desks and Kevin and Mike did most of the assembly. We tore down the original countertops that John started the company with and now we're each in a corner with a bit more privacy and ownership of our own areas. I've done a lot of vacuuming with all the commotion.