So 2nd semester has started for Paige and her teachers are calling her "Abby." Obviously, there's a family resemblance.

It finally worked out for me to take Bella and Lucy to a movie, so Sunday 29th Paige and I saw Beauty and the Beast in 3D with them. Lucy wore her 3D glasses in every position imaginable, but she was really very good during the movie. I worried about Bella ate too much popcorn, but needlessly so as she told Kristin she was actually hungry after the movie.

Paige missed school last Monday due to a rash on her face we think was caused by a new cleanser she had just bought. Urgent Care had her cooling the rash with a cool washcloth, hydrating by running a vaporizer at night and calming it with hydrocortizone. They also prescribed an antibiotic just in case. It's much better, but I've scheduled an appointment with her dermatologist for a follow up.

And Paige missed school again this Monday because we drove down to Indy to partake in the SuperBowl festivities in Indy. This is probably the closest to Milwaukee the SuperBowl will ever be, and we had the lodging already set! Abby drove in from UW-LaCrosse Friday night—she never misses an opportunity to visit the Sears. We set out for Indy Saturday at noon, after Paige took her practice ACT. (Next Saturday's the real one!) And we arrived by 5:00pm because of the easy drive. Meg had already arranged for a sitter for Mia and Cooper, so we packed everyone else up in their Honda Pilot and headed for SuperBowl Village in downtown Indy.

Now this was Bryce's first outing of the week. Bryce was diagnosed first with strep throat the previous Friday, then with mononucleosis by Wednesday. Bryce was definitely ready to get out, but it was hard to watch him—a 14-year-old sportsnut—run out of steam at the big SuperBowl party in his hometown.

We were able to park Saturday night for only $10. We walked to SuperBowl Village where the main streets were closed off for pedestrians and vendors. Meg's husband, William, scored us entry to a SuperBowl VIP party on the 3rd floor of a building right on Georgia St., the main drag, overlooking all the goings-on. We were treated to a free food and drink indoors (it was drizzling and a little chilly outside) and Bryce was able to sit down for a while. It was cool to watch the zipliners buzz by a eye-level and get to see everything from above.

We didn't forget all about Bryn. She wasn't able to come along because she was running in an indoor track meet at UW-Parkside Saturday afternoon. We kept up with her meet via texts and found out that she ran another amazing 800. Can't wait to watch her in person.

And Paige's phone was being bombarded with news about her softball teammate that was in a car crash Friday night. You've probably all seen it in the news: the 9 teens in Campbellsport. Paige's teammate is one of the 6 survivors. Today she had surgery for her 2 broken arms. She also has 2 fractured vertebrae (one in her neck and one in her back) that doctors feel will heal by themselves over time. Paige has softball practice Tuesday night and maybe some of them will make a plan to go visit Jesse together.

Jeff and Abby got to see Meg's salon for the first time Sunday morning. Abby and Logan took measurements for all the new work I have to do: signage for the salon while Meg explained her payment plan for me: Scentsy Swap.

Sunday we were able to venture downtown again with Mia and Cooper in tow. This required 2 cars and parking had gone up considerably in one day. We found a lot (farther away than the night before) for $25. We stopped in the Westin Hotel for a rest and while Bryce was alone, he had a celebrity sighting: Betty White! She was accompanied by 2 bodyguards. No one else the entire weekend was so lucky. We all wore our Packers apparel and took some great pictures being able to see all the decorations in the daylight. We drove back to Meg & William's to relax at their home and watch the game.

Got up, packed up and left today. Really had fun.

Back to work. Yep, work. I got a freelance client that promises me work on a consistent basis. Kept me pretty busy this past week and they're great to work with. I'm meeting with them Wednesday to go over some minor details.

Abby packed up her room and moved back to La Crosse last Wednesday. I still can't believe it's her last semester! She's secured another babysitting job, this time watching 3 little girls. And Abby's applying to stay in La Crosse for another year working on the staff of CRU, the organization she's been so involved with all along.

Paige finished her first semester of her junior year with final exams last week. She's knows what she has to do to get into college and worked hard. We've scheduled her first college visit at UW-Whitewater in April.

Paige had been complaining about not being able to see the board in class and having difficulty reading road signs while driving, so she urged us to get her in for an eye exam. The doctor was confused at first. Listening to her symptoms, it seemed an flat-out near-sightedness diagnosis. But as he swapped out those many lenses, he discovered her to actually be far-sighted. Her eyes were becoming so strained working to focus on things close up, that her eye just became too tired to focus far away. She picked out the cutest pair of frames and was amazed at the difference she was able to see when she put them on. She doesn't "have to" wear them, but is encouraged to have them on when on the computer or doing schoolwork.

I've been home so long I'm wondering how I'll adjust once I have to go to work again. I'm enjoying keeping every little thing organized and being able to do some serious research graphic/web design trends. I was assigned to an ad agency downtown for some overflow help last week, but only for one day. Nice place, but I guess the one day is all they needed. I've begun scouring the internet for jobs and applied for a handful.

Wish Bryn could've been home as long as Abby over this winter break. We did meet up to have dinner with Bryn at Texas Roadhouse on Jan 8th to hear more about her trip to the Rose Bowl.

Abby's been working hard to make some much-needed funds for next semester. Hallmark has been generous with hours and Kristin had Abby help out dogsitting and watching the girls a couple times. Now, if she could just find their garage door opener...

We also found a "client" for the final graphic design class Abby has next semester. Her friend's (Kendal) mom recently went into the beading/jewelry business and Abby will work with her to create her logo and other business materials she may need. Last night we had them over for a photoshoot of her products to start Abby along.

Paige has begun indoor softball practices for her select team, the Sussex SunDevils. She's done a good job rearranging her work schedule in order to make it to 2 of the 3 weekly practices. (That means she likes it!)

Jeff accompanied me to an art show opening last Friday night for an old friend of mine. She worked as an intern at Norman Design about 10 years ago and now she's at the Milwaukee Public Museum and an artist in her own right. I was really impressed with her eclectic artwork and was glad I got to support her at the opening.

Speaking of art, this is Paige's beehive pot from her ceramics class. She's not wild about it, but I love it!

Bryn had her first indoor track meet Saturday at Carthage. (I placed a link to her schedule at the right.) I totally had the time to go, but never thought there was a meet coming up already! Bryn did exceptionally well! Coach put her in the open 800 and in a 4x400 relay. I called to congratulate her on her 800 time and she was happy with her results as well.

Jeff and Abby drove up to Appleton for Christopher's baptism last Sunday. Jeff said Abby got in a lot of cuddling time with the babies. Then they got to come home and watch the sad, sad Packer game. I stayed home with Paige to attend Generations of Faith and then she had softball practice. From softball, Paige followed the gps directions out to Bryn's dorm and stayed overnight since Paige didn't have school Monday. They watched the game, movies and danced with video games. Another priceless activity: Bryn tutoring Paige in chemistry for Paige's upcoming 1st semester final exams.

The freelance project for Hatco through my temp agency hasn't amounted to much work, so I turned my work focus inward and worked on my own website (link at right). I had fun photographing some items that I didn't have documented before and writing descriptions to let viewers know what my involvement was. Another step toward building my business is that I finally upgraded my dying iPhone3G to an iPhone4S. Now I feel confident to receive calls on it as the reception is even clearer. And I just ordered business cards that many have been asking for at the networking events I attend.

I finished up my temp assignment at Readers Digest on December 22nd. That day was the last day the building was open before the entire company shut down over Christmas break, so I had kind of a lonely and therefore quiet last day. I'm really glad I pushed to work 3 days/week during the month of December so I could be more available to get ready for the holidays and for our college kids returning home.

Bryn was done December 8th, so she was home quite a bit before her friends were. Abby came home on the 21st. Her finals were later and she wanted to stay to help celebrate one of her roommates leaving for an internship in Minneapolis 2nd semester.

When Paige finished her final half-day on December 23rd, we headed up to Appleton to celebrate Christmas with Jeff's family. It was a picture-perfect White Christmas! Snow fell as we mingled with the Saunders, Stanleys and Hintzs that afternoon at Maggie and Tom's. We also visited Richard in Menasha and were treated to a fish fry near his home.

On Christmas Eve we gathered with my family first for an amazing service at Elmbrook, then over to Kristin's to open presents. We went to a later church service because Paige had to work, and that made for a long night. Bella and Lucy were tired, but managed to stay awake and help everybody tear open their gifts. Bella presented many gifts to Kristin, the favorite being some cardboard packing Bella decorated that Kristin was to wear like a sandwich board!

Abby left for her annual TCX conference in Minneapolis on the 28th. It's a leadership conference with the Campus Crusade for Christ she's involved with at UW-L. She was able to shadow the Events Planner which counts toward her internship credits for her Communications major. Hard to believe, but Abby will graduate in May! We've reserved our hotels rooms already!


And Bryn left for the Rose Bowl in sunny California the next day (29th). I drove her and her 3 friends down to Chicago to catch the Amtrak that would chug them (over 40 hours) all the way to Los Angeles. I picked them back up yesterday (Jan 5). Sounds like they had a terrific time and adventured to the beach and Santa Monica Pier for the Badger Pep Rally on Dec 31, to Sunset Boulevard for a fancy dinner on New Years Day and finally to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl game on the 2nd. The weather was fabulous the entire time. I'm still drooling to see pictures!

Jeff came with me to on the 29th to Chicago and after we got the kids off safely, we drove over to Craig's and wished him a Happy Birthday. He introduced us to his local hangout where we bought him dinner. Glad we got to do that especially since Craig's son, Clark, was gone to DisneyWorld that week.

Back in Wisconsin, Paige hosted a New Years Eve sleepover complete with frozen pizza and chocolate cream pie. Jeff and I headed to the theatre and wound up sitting in the front row because it was so crowded! And spent New Years Day at the Seeds watching the Packers game.

Abby's been picking up lots of hours at Hallmark over her break. Even taking some of Paige's hours so she can get to her softball practices that are now starting up. We had to deliver Bryn back to Carroll after a home-cooked dinner last night so she could get up bright and early for track practice this morning. Practice had started the beginning of the week.

I'm currently working from home for the beginning of my next temp assignment which is redesigning all the literature for Hatco, a foodservice equipment company. Next week, I'll be showing them my new designs for their 5 catalogs! Then we'll see where it goes from there. After this design stage, I'm really not equipped to do the further production work at home...

2011 Christmas Card

Another digital ecard by Smilebox

As many of you may have already seen on Facebook, we finally got our new furniture for the basement! Obviously we got the measurements right, as the delivery down the stairs took all of 10 minutes. And it looks and feels beautiful! I can't believe how great it looks with the rug! Bryn and Paige took full advantage of its comforts last night taking the basement space back.

Other even bigger news is Bryn's score to go to the Rose Bowl. One of her good friends, a UW student (obviously), purchased 4 tickets hoping she could get a group to go and made it happen. Her father used his frequent-stayer points to reserve them a hotel. We parents all talked about how to get them out there in a safe, affordable manner and yesterday we all purchased their Amtrak tickets from Chicago to LA. When I have time to surf, I've been researching how the kids can get around LA and what to do.

Jeff and I attended Paige's Junior Conference yesterday with her and her guidance counselor. This is part of a new plan by the high school to help kids get where they want to go after graduation by analyzing if they're on track with their grades, activities, college tours and applications. After hearing that Paige was interested in studying business, the counselor urged her to sign up for a UW-Whitewater visit and explore the different fields within business.

Abby was supposed to come home last weekend with all 6 of her roommates as they continue their "Hometown Tour." Their senior year is upon them so they're making the most of their last year together by scheduling visits to each roommate's hometown sometime during the schoolyear. With it being December (holidays, finals, etc.), only 1 roommate was available to come on Abby's designated "Milwaukee" weekend, so they decided to postpone. Paige was none too happy. Rescheduled date is still to be determined.

Jeff got to see the Pack go 13-0 last Sunday against the Raiders. His college buddies always go to one Packer game each year and this was it. Luckily the weather was pretty bearable for a game in Green Bay: 40° and overcast, but the game was pushed back to 3:15 so you couldn't rely on the sun making any impact. How 'bout til that crazy night game on Christmas Day!

It's official. I will be done at Readers Digest on December 22. My temp agency is already on it and has offered me to sign me up for a few classes they offer—at their expense—to help me into some Front End Developer jobs that are becoming more popular. Kind of scary to get into all that crazy programming, but that's where my job seems to be going.

As luck would have it, just when I began my part-time hours, I picked up a freelance job! A past client called me to produce their annual calendar again for 2012. I really couldn't have planned it any better. I've met her for coffee twice and enjoy the project management/directing part of being a designer that does lack in my temporary gigs.

We hosted the Sears family over Thanksgiving and had a lot of fun with them bargain shopping, dancing with the Wii and just hanging out. Kristin actually hosted Thanksgiving dinner with Meg's family, Craig's family and Mom and Dad. We however continued our tradition of heading up towards Appleton where Maggie treats us all to a family-style Thanksgiving out at Van Abel's. Paige and I got the house guest-ready on our days off beforehand. Abby was able to get some work hours in over that holiday weekend.

We got Bryn back to Carroll Sunday after church at Elmbrook and Abby left with her rider later in the afternoon.

I went out for Mexican with the girls' babysitters, Wendy and Robin this past Friday night. Always a lot to catch up on when we meet. Robin definitely outdid us all with 2 weddings and a baby! I'm glad we still get together as I so love their company. Their kids are just a bit older than mine so I listen very carefully and try to learn from their good examples.

And the next evening Jeff and I cheered on the Badgers with my former college roommate, Polly, and her husband that now reside in Brookfield.