Jeff and I are experiencing a trial run of being empty nesters this week. Abby is down in Indianapolis helping Meg & William with their kids. Bryn is on a mission trip with St James in Kansas City, Kansas. And Paige is also on a mission trip with Good Shepherd in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Of course Abby is easily accessible this week and she is having a great time hanging out with Bryce, Logan, Mia and Cooper — and helping Meg with her new salon. Bryn's called in twice so far — but after we're asleep! — about 11:00pm. She promised she'd try earlier tonight. It's been scorching hot in Kansas City, but she always sounds like she's so happy (check up on her this week by clicking on link at right). Paige has been harder to communicate with and with this being her first year, we're just not sure what to expect. I did text her a bit last night. She's been grouped with college-age kids, not from our church, and they've demolished and rebuilt a porch so far. We'll be reunited with Bryn and Paige on Saturday and we'll meet Abby south of Chicago on Sunday to pick her up.

So let me pick up where I left off from my last post.

On the 4th of July we headed down to Summerfest where Abby, Bryn and Paige were lucky enough to see Carrie Underwood in the Amphitheatre! I brought along rain ponchos which seemed to ward off the threatening rain. While the girls were at their concert, Jeff and I found a nearby tent where a local band band was playing and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The 5th of July marked Abby and Mark's one-year anniversary. Abby was quite excited for their big date where Mark treated her to a swanky Italian restaurant then gelato.


We celebrated Bryn's high school graduation with a party at our home on July 10th. We had a great turn out! Bryn did a fabulous job setting up her "shrine" in the dining room, pulling out all her awards and assembling the picture boards. Lucy was the hit of the party shooting everybody at close range with the tiger bubble-blower! Thunderstorms pushed the party inside twice. After 7:00pm when wave of kids started coming, we needed to move the party outside again.

Last week I finished up programming the website for Meg's new salon (salonsalonsuites.com). One little detail I can't figure out, but spent hours trying! Frustrating!

Paige is missing her final Little League tournament games this week and her coach couldn't be more disappointed. Jeff and I may go watch the final game this coming Saturday morning without her.

After we got all our kids off last Saturday morning, Jeff and I headed up to Appleton for nephew Mitchell's grad party. We brought Theo along because we decided to drive up north to spend the night and next day and treat Theo to some lake swimming. Since it was only the three of us, we took the little car and Theo got comfy in the hatchback. It did end up raining Sunday morning, but we were able to get in a cloudy boat ride after lunch.

So my work has been crazy busy ever since Kevin left at the end of April. Norman Design has since hired a new employee, Aaron, and he started June 1st and seems like a very likeable and capable co-worker. Because we're so swamped, we haven't all been able to reach out to him much. So my extra hours continue...

Abby started working at Hallmark 9 to 5 Mondays thru Thursdays June 14th. And Bryn got a gig driving kids around to their activities as their parents work full-time. Abby and Bryn have been super at working out who-gets-the-car and when. Paige's softball season continues as Little League season is now in full swing.

Bryn and Paige participated on different teams in our local American Cancer Society's Relay for Life on the 18th. It started at 6pm and ended the next morning at 9am. Your team had to have one member walking the track at all times. The weather wasn't too cooperative with storms threatening and moving the event into the high school twice before midnight. They did get to be outside after that. Many teams had tents to nap in, some had campers and grills.

The weekend of the 25th, we helped Kristin and Carlo move to their newly-built house in Sussex. We were all able to help on Friday with Craig, Clark, my Mom & Dad and Carlo's brother, Sal. On Saturday, I was the only one available and so I went. Clark did a fabulous job cleaning up the old house before Kristin and Carlo said good-bye to it and Clark flattened most of the moving boxes for recycling when we were through. Craig thought Abby did a tremendous job organizing and stacking the boxes as we loaded them up into the moving truck. Kristin and Carlo had all the boxes well-labeled so we knew just where to drop them in the new house.

Bryn got her room assignment at Carroll. She will be in a triple with a girl from Menomonee Falls, Montana, and a girl from Illinois, Hailey, on the 4th floor of Swarthout Hall. Bryn has looked for Hailey on Facebook, but apparently there are 2 with the same last name; so Bryn's waiting for Hailey to contact her first.

Yesterday was Menomonee Falls 4th of July parade and fireworks. What a beautiful night for it! We were able to stake out a spot and the kids sat with me, Jeff and Dave and Carrie Seeds. Abby took care of her group by reserving a spot and bringing snacks and refreshments. We all came home right after the fireworks because tonight we're going to Summerfest! Abby, Bryn and Paige are going to see Carrie Underwood there tonight. Jeff and I are going to go and just hang out.

Bryn graduated from Menomonee Falls High School this past Saturday. The weather was unpredictable to say the least: forecasts said it was to be 90° and muggy, but it ended up being 65° and overcast. The stadium gates opened at 3pm, with the ceremony to begin at 4pm. I had fun texting my friend, Carrie, who was on the other side of the field while we were waiting. Then tragedy struck – my camera battery went dead! Me, without a camera? We brought Bryn's along as a backup... memory full! Oh yeah! I also packed Paige's just in case – no memory card! Thank goodness for sisters. Kristin let me snap all I wanted on hers and delivered a CD to us Monday morning. All the senior class speakers were wonderful, and I kept a dry eye until the song. Two graduates sang a beautiful song about believing in yourself. My parents, Maggie, Terry, Kristin, Carlo, Bella and Lucy all came. Now it's party time for the next 2 months! We've all sure had fun reading autographs in the high school yearbook, grad grams and looking at lots of pictures. Bryn was awarded a Senior Athletic Award for earning a varsity letter all 4 years of high school.

Before the big graduation, Paige had an early Little League game and it was grandparents day! Paige is on the Cardinals for the 3rd time in her Little League career.

Paige has been watching Bella and Lucy whenever Kristin needs to put in extra hours. They sure have fun here on the trampoline!

June 4th & 5th Abby and Bryn took a road trip up to La Crosse for the State Outdoor Track Meet. Bryn had a couple teammates qualify and wanted to support them. Abby was able to contact her landlord and the carload stayed at Abby's new house she'll be living in next schoolyear. Nice that it was a free place to stay, but nothing's been moved in yet so it was pretty barren. They still had a great time.

Jeff went with Paige to her softball banquet on the 7th where the Freshman coach complimented Paige on her achievements, with her at the top of the stats for batting, pitching, runs and steals. I designed yet another t-shirt honoring their freshman team's unofficial Conference Championship status.

Last night, Abby and Bryn went to finally spend their JCP gift cards from Grandma Maggie for their birthdays. They called home shortly after they left. As any mother would do, you think the worst – they got in an accident. Not quite. They were stranded in the middle of a road because the muffler fell right off! Jeff drove off to the rescue and was busy googling the part when he got home.

Happy 15th birthday to our youngest! Can you believe it? Paige got to begin her awesome birthday by marching with the high school band in our Village Memorial Day parade. Thank goodness it was much cooler weather this morning! Our family met afterwards to share birthday cake - which this year was custard at Kraverz - with Paige. After blogging, I will begin to prepare Paige's birthday dinner request: spaghetti and meatballs!



Since we've been so busy putting in extra hours at work, attending school year-end events, and with softball and track seasons ending, we decided to stay home this Memorial Day weekend. Jeff ordered 10 yards of mulch for us and we put our team to work! We got about half the yard done so we're happy. But Jeff heard his knee "pop" Saturday and has been limping ever since. That hasn't kept him from the yardwork, but us girls are trying to keep him away from it. While watering some of the flowers, Paige discovered a bird's nest in one of our hanging plants on the front porch.


So Paige's freshman softball team is the unofficial conference champ (not recognized at the freshman level) with their win over Brookfield East last Thursday! Paige was bummed that game as she was saved to pitch that final game, but the coaches determined that her batting average was better at games where she wasn't pitching, so they didn't have her pitch. The coaches kept yelling at her to "smile" when she was in the outfield. Since school ball is over, her Little League season can begin!

And Bryn wasn't able to participate as much as she had hoped with the track team. She's planning to head out to La Crosse for the Track State and watch some of her teammates compete this coming weekend. Bryn still attended every practice and meet, fully supporting her team. We visited the foot doctor this past Friday as Bryn is still experiencing some pain and swelling. The doctor prescribed some insoles and anti-flammatory cream and we'll see him back in a month or so.

Bryn had a big day May 22nd. She signed up Abby and herself to ride in the Bike A Thon, a fundraiser for her summer mission trip. It was a beautiful day. I was able to help out again with designing the t-shirts. Aren't they cool? I suggested the red color this year for community visibility. And I stuck around to take some pictures, help with registration and serving lunch at the park, where the halfway point is. Next year I swear I'm going to ride it!

In the evening, Grandma Karen and Grandpa Clark came into town and we all went to see Bryn and Paige perform at the high school for Jazz N Java. Such a nice event. The audience is seated at round tables and is able to purchase drinks and bakery while you listen to samplings from all the area schools' jazz bands.

May 14th I drove out to La Crosse with Abby's boyfriend, Mark, and packed Abby up from the dorms to move back home for the summer. Thank goodness Mark was available and willing. We ran up and down from her dorm room to the van, while Abby kept filling boxes and duffle bags! Then we treated Mark to Buzzard Billy's for lunch and then headed across the street for ice cream. Not looking forward to moving the big stuff into a house for her next year!

The biggest news in my life is that one of my 3 co-workers quit 2 weeks ago. When there's only 4 of you at work, 1 missing makes a huge difference. And that difference directly impacts me. So I'm a 9 to 5 gal now. Temporarily. And it's 7:30 to 3:30. Hopefully my boss will begin interviewing replacements soon. My remaining co-worker, Mike, and I are cranking so hard at work. We barely talk.

This is the group Bryn went to Senior Holiday with last Friday night. We hosted the picture party. They had a lot of fun, except that Bryn had a track meet in the nasty, cold rain the next morning. The track coaches have finally put Bryn in a few meets, but Bryn's been disappointed with her performance. I think she just needs more time. She's very hard on herself. Bryn is filling out all her forms to officially attend Carroll next fall. She picked her grad party to be July 10th, so she could make it to all her other friends' parties already scheduled. I've been helping Bryn resize digital pictures of all her Art projects throughout her Senior Portfolio class - very impressive!

Paige was checked over by her regular doctor today and he gave her the green light to start back in to softball after her shoulder sprain a week ago Friday. Paige really gave her all she got that night with a big lead off first base, only to have to do a crazy head-first slide back when they tried to throw her out. She ended up landing on her outstretched shoulder and it was very painful to move. The urgent care gave her a sling to wear for week. Which Paige literally wore for one week. Paige also saw the trainer today who had her do some great stretches to ease her shoulder back into shape. Paige officially umped her first Little League game last weekend - check's in the mail! I think she liked it.

I had a great Mother's Day! Jeff and the kids took me to see Avatar at the IMAX! It was very cool. A little too much fighting, but the scenery was beautiful. I was also presented with new, very needed, fully assembled laundry-sorting bins.

Our stove is slowly dying. We never know which burner will decide to work or for how long.

Abby has finals this week and her boyfriend and I will be going to La Crosse to move her back home on Friday. Jeff's boss conveniently signed him up to attend a conference that day.

Abby was home this past weekend and reminded me I had fallen behind on the blog. I forget how those college students depend on the news from home.

This time, I will journal backwards... So Abby brought her friend, Amy, home from UWL this weekend to take her to Miller Park and see a Brewers game. Jeff also attended the game with Terry, Paul, Kayla, Nate and some of Paul's family. Because Terry was involved, there was plenty of food and no one wanted for anything. They didn't get to see a good game, but I think all had fun. I stayed put here in the Falls strolling back and forth between the softball field where Paige was playing and the track field where Bryn ran. Bryn was put in her first meet Friday since her surgery. She ran the last leg of the 4x800 relay and got a very decent time! She's earned her spot back on the Varsity team now.

All this past week we didn't see much of Bryn as she rehearsed with the band for the musical, Fame, put on this weekend. She'd have all of 20 minutes between track practice and pit band practice to grab something to eat. So basically she was gone from 7:30 am to 10:00pm. She's looking forward to sleeping again this week.

One of my co-workers will be leaving Norman Design this week. Really sad about it. Obviously, John wants me to work full-time. I'd like to get a lot more out of my job if I'm putting that much time into it, so I think I'll pass.

Paige's softball team is undefeated! Paige is doing very well pitching. And a game doesn't go by without someone commenting on how fast she runs those bases. She's earned the nickname Spidey for her crouching stance and the way she holds her hands out when leading off base. And the coach calls her Wheels for her speed.

Last weekend I traveled to Indy to help celebrate Meg and William's 40th birthdays. They rented a bar & grill, hired a DJ and invited about 100 people to their 80s themed party. I rode with Kristin down there and with Kristin and Craig on the way back. It's nice the ride is so long so we could have a great conversation! The highlight of the party - without a doubt - was Meg's best friend, Betsy, karaoke-ing to Michael Jackson.

And the weekend before that, Jeff and I flew out to New York City! Bryn and Paige were already there on their band trip and we did get to run into them for pizza Friday night and at the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Ctr) on Saturday night. We had dinner Friday night with Melissa, my first co-worker at Norman Design, who now lives and works out there. We toured Central Park, walked through the Guggenheim Museum, took in a Broadway show and ferried out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Out hotel was in the best possible spot: we could walk 6 blocks in any direction and be in Times Square, Central Park... So nice.

On Monday, Bryn was let out of school to play with the high school Wind Symphony for the Wisconsin Music Educators Conference in the Capitol in Madison. She had a great time.

Paige passed her umpire test Tuesday night, so will be scheduled to umpire at Little League games during the summer.

Wednesday was an absolutely beautiful day and both Jeff and I were able to watch the freshman softball team scrimmage against Germantown. Paige looked good pitching.


Abby was able to hitch a ride home from La Crosse Thursday night for Easter weekend. The girls had a lot of fun outside enjoying the warm weather that night.

Everybody was off on Friday except for Jeff. I went to the Y in the morning, then us girls did a little shopping to prepare for our upcoming trips. We made stops at Target, TJMaxx, and JCPenney. It was a lot of fun. Jeff rented the Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker, from the library and we were excited to watch it that night. I found it quite boring and went to bed after the first hour. Jeff watched the rest, but wasn't so impressed either.

I woke up early Saturday morning and found myself grocery shopping amongst a store-wide Easter Egg Hunt! The store puts wrapped Easter candy throughout the aisles. Not a bad deal - there were lots of leftovers! Back home, it was a big laundry day to make sure Abby had hers done to go back to school the next day and Bryn and Paige's done so they could pack it up to leave on Monday for the band trip to Boston and New York City. Jeff is suffering from spring allergies with a headache, watery eyes, and congestion.



Abby, Bryn and Paige had to get up at 8:00am this morning to search for their Easter baskets. The Easter Bunny did something different this year: a scavenger hunt. The first clue was on the kitchen table. They had to figure out clues which led them to a page in the Bible, a message in Paige's email, and finally to the passenger seat of their car: "I call shotgun!" It was fun to watch. We all got ready and headed to church at Elmbrook, then for Easter brunch at the Odyssey. We got our turn to be serenaded before we left. Abby got invited to Mark's for Easter dinner this afternoon while Paige and Bryn finish checking things off their packing lists.