Merry Christmas!

So this little family blog has over 4000 views! Should I be nervous that we have stalkers or flattered that we have so many friends?

Abby and Bryn both come home for winter break today. Glad it's today as snow is predicted tomorrow and Thursday and I surely wouldn't want Abby to have to drive 3 hours in that. Their rooms are all ready for them: unopened mail and clean sheets on their beds. Paige is really looking forward to not being an only child.

My regular freelance client base has all but fizzled out the last two weeks, so I signed back up with my staffing resource and was able to help fix some timely website issues at Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha for a half day last week. And this week I'll be going in to Rockwell for a half day on Friday. I've alerted the staffing agency of my more-than-available status after the holidays so I can get busy again.

It's an awesome time of the year to have the extra time on my hands. The tree is up and decorated, Christmas shopping done, presents wrapped, house clean.

Paige has been very busy at Hallmark. When she works, she typically works til close. Closing up shop is taking way longer than usual — almost an hour after they lock the doors! So some of the employees are volunteering to come in each night an hour before close in order to get everyone out of there quicker.

Paige came home from her Hallmark Christmas Party with the announcement that she'll be attending UW-Whitewater next fall. She's been talking to a lot of people (kids and adults) and concluded that Whitewater is the choice for her. She's excited and now we have to look to see what forms and payments we need to send in.

Last weekend, we got see Bella sing and dance with her Crescendo group, the youngest group in Accompany of Kids. We had to have Bella there early, so of course, I came prepared with crayons and paper and we made cards. It kept Lucy entertained! The show was really impressive! Amazing that 1st graders can remember all those words and dance steps! And the skills were elevated with each age group! Kristin and Carlo had a work party to attend that night, so we kept Bella and Lucy overnight. We watched Elf, ate ice cream, and colored.

And the weekend before Jeff, Paige, AJ and I drove down to Miller Valley and got to see the Miller Holiday Lites display that's set to music. Didn't realize how popular it was—had to wait about 45 minutes til the next show. But it was pretty cool to see—and it was free.

Couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some outdoor Christmas decorating in with the warm weather we had this first weekend of December. Paige had to work all weekend, so Jeff and I had to get the tree without her. (We ended up getting the one on the left.) Paige requested to have colored lights around our windows this year and Jeff obliged. Now all we need is snow to make the decorations look picture perfect!

I turned another year older Nov. 19th and was treated to Cold Stone Creamery for my birthday treat. Super yummy!

For Thanksgiving this year, we opted to trek down to Indy since no one had to work over the weekend. We arrived very late Wednesday night, and had to be up bright and early the next day. Bryn came up with the idea to enter a Thanksgiving run/walk, so I worked with Meg to find a run nearby and sign up those who wanted to. Bryn hurt her hip flexor in October and was just cleared to run by the trainer, so she was really happy to have everyone join her. Jeff had some turkey prepping to do before he could leave. Glad he did, because the turkey was delicious!

We sure had fun staying at Meg's and playing with their puppy, Diesel, picking out new Scentsy scents, listening to how much Lucy loves us (not!), playing BlackOps on that ginormous screen, playing "hide Lucy's blankie", and eating leftovers.

Black Friday sales beginning Thanksgiving night kind of threw our annual shopping trip off. Paige got word (via text) that Hollister and other mall shops were opening at 12midnight and offering 40 – 60% off. Jeff volunteered to take the older kids out for that sale. Me, Mom, Meg, Kristin and Abby opted to stick with our usual plan and head out early in the a.m. We left Meg's house at 5:30am. It was really weird not fighting crowds, searching for a parking space, or waiting in long checkout lines at the big box stores. None of us complained though. We recharged with breakfast at Panera and capped off the trip with margaritas for lunch at Abuelos.

We left Indy Saturday night, called Craig on our way through Chicago and were able to meet him and Clark at Culver's for dinner.

Jeff's work website finally launched after my 3 years of redesigning it, submitting estimates to meet their budget, and aligning it to their requirements. I visited Ring & DuChateau to pick up my check and was able to visit with a few of Jeff's colleagues. Sad there aren't Christmas parties anymore.

Holidays are coming and plans are being made. Lots of pulling schedules together trying to see lots of family.

Bryn suggested the family do a Thanksgiving/Turkey Trot run. Bryn just got cleared to run again by her trainer and is itching to get out there. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in Indy, so with Meg's help we found the FitLivin' Thanksgiving Run in Noblesville nearby. Jeff decided he is going to go with the older kids and has been training. It was so nice today that Paige, Jeff and I went out the Bugline Trail: Jeff and Paige to get a run in and I decided to walk Theo, 11 years old today. Theo started out strong, but puked 7 times during our 3-mile walk making the last mile pretty slow for the old guy. I though I was treating him to a day outdoors with lots of new smells to enjoy, but instead I feel like I tortured him. He's resting comfortably in his dogloo now with plenty of water.

My freelance and contract work got super slow the past two weeks. Luckily a new freelance project came in to fill some of my time, but my steady freelance client just lost 2 key personnel who push work my way. I spoke to that client and they asked what my comfort level was with taking over some of the organizational/communication tasks required to pull the project details together (typically done by someone else before forwarding the job my way), and I welcomed the opportunity. It'll get me working again and help them out until they have their new hirees in place. I'll start those new tasks on Monday.

In the meantime, my parents came to stay with us — twice— in those past two weeks. The first time was for a few days on their way back from Florida and the second was just for a night before a company retiree luncheon for my Dad. The timing couldn't have been better as I could spare the extra time to visit with them.

I'm also proud to say that I'm also done clearing everything off my old iMac so that it may be recycled. I've archived to disk all my freelance files and am still working to burn all my iPhoto libraries to disk. If any of you know me well, this burning photos to disks is a task of epic proportions. I average about 1200 pictures/year and like to organize them into yearly albums per kid (Abby_UWL Senior, Bryn_CarrollFreshman, Paige_11thGrade, etc.) My little old iMac has been working diligently for just over a week on this.

Jeff's annual hunting weekend with his college buddies in Waubeno was the first weekend in November. It wasn't as well attended as other years, just 7 guys, 2 of their sons and 3 dogs. Jeff was able to go up early on Friday to get an extra day of hunting in and had a great time. He always comments on how he can hear the mice running around in the cabin when they go to bed. Only one guy shot a bird, and as directed, ate it up at the cabin.

Jeff and I attended our high school's Scholarship Auction a couple Fridays ago. Always a good time. The buffet dinner that the Hilton Garden put out was stupendous and the company at our table was so fun. During the evening, there are several auctions to partake of: a Silent Auction around the entire room, 50/50 raffles that are action participatory, several large ticket item (iPad, sports event tickets, big screen TV, etc.) raffles, and a live auction for really large ticket items (Bucks game booth, resort weekends, sailing excursions, etc.) Jeff and I came home with a MSOE sweatshirt and a round of golf for 4 at Ironwood.

I'm archiving projects back to the company server and blogging in between.

Work has been busy for me juggling working from home and going in to Rockwell with less than 24 hours' notice. But the money is nice and I like the work so enough of that.

October 6th we took our seats in the stands at Titan Stadium and cheered on our nephew Mitch at the UW-Oshkosh football game. Mitchell has quite a fan base and we were happy to join in. We did not enjoy the unexpected cold snap that weekend, so we made a couple visits to the concession stand for hot chocolate. Mitchell even scored a touchdown for us. Paige received her first college acceptance letter, to UW-O, soon afterward so it was cool she got to see a little of the campus social life.

Jeff and I were able to take a weekend away in October and headed out to Spring Green for their Fall Art Tour. The weather was great and we had beautiful drives between artist studios where we could chat with the artists and watch them work. It's really a cool event. And we were amazed at the talent! Next time we go, we're hoping we can make an investment in one of the artists' works! We stayed at a bed and breakfast which was super quiet and in the middle of nowhere. But then again, everything was in the middle of nowhere! The room was nice and we were treated to the most spectacular breakfasts!

And of course, the weekend we go away, Abby comes home for the weekend. She didn't realize she got a 4-day weekend. So she chilled with Theo and Paige, visited Bryn and Kristin, and we got to see her Sunday night/Monday morning. I hope many of you have been able to watch Abby's Story. Isn't she a great speaker and writer? Poor Abby just returned from her 3rd funeral in 3 months. Her best friend, Amy's, grandpa just died. Before that it was a friend/student from UW-L and another friend's dad. Luckily she has many weddings to look forward to.

Bryn was home the weekend before for Carroll's Fall Break. A disappointed athlete, she hasn't been able to participate in Cross Country since the beginning of Oct due to her hip injury. She still goes with the team to all the meets to help out with timing and cheer on her teammates. Bryn declared a 2nd major along with Chemistry: Politics-Philosophy-Economics. She's investigating what it means to work in Ethics, so I hooked her up with the Hospital Ethicist at Columbia St. Mary's and she's set up to meet with him over her winter break.

Homecoming was the same weekend Bryn was home. Bryn and her friend Ashley even made the trip in on Wednesday night to watch Paige play in the Powderpuff game. Ashley, Bryn and AJ all made custom signs to hold up in the stands for Paige. Paige did score a touchdown, but it was called back by a penalty. Saturday night was the dance and here's your chance to see Paige's entire ensemble from the La Crosse runway. Dinner beforehand was pizza at a neighbor's home—refreshing to see them all so relaxed and not spending all that cash.

We celebrated Jeff's 50th birthday by going to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert and boy, that is definitely going to be a repeat event. Yummy! We couldn't make it happen on his actual birthday because Paige worked, so we went the following Sunday.

I went in to the doctor late September complaining of back pain, although the x-rays said my back was in alignment. So the doctor sent me off for 4 weeks of physical therapy, which was much-needed. My therapist agreed that the main reason for my pain is my poor posture and at-home office conditions. Once we evaluate what my business owes in taxes for 2012, I'll be investing in a good office chair and desk. Here I think I'm so good doing my yoga and going to the Y, yet couldn't bend over to tie my shoe for weeks! All the daily exercises prescribed by the therapist, sleeping position recommendations and constant posture checks have helped immensely.

Helping Paige fill out her college applications this week, we found ourselves looking back to this blog to find major milestones in Paige's school career. Made me realize what an incredible keepsake this blog really is and how precious it is to have it to reflect on. So I've recommitted myself to blogging again, though I haven't defined how often. And I'm excited.

There's no way I can possibly fill in all the blanks from my last post in April, but I'll try to paraphrase.

Abby graduated from UW-La Crosse last May with a degree in Communications. She was home over the summer working part-time at Hallmark and raising support for job in campus ministry with CRU that she started August 1st. Abby moved into a swanky furnished loft above a storefront in downtown La Crosse with 3 other roommates. Bryn and I took a roadtrip to visit in August and Jeff and Paige just went last weekend.

Bryn is in her 3rd year (of 5) at Carroll as a Chemistry major. Over the summer, Bryn returned to her full-time playground leader job with the Park & Rec Dept. The kids love her and she really gets into doing special things for the kids. Bryn is also back on Carroll's Cross Country team and just recorded her career PR (personal record) at her last meet. Our family just hosted a taco dinner for the team after their Sept. 15th meet at Concordia University. We moved Bryn into Frontier Hall this year, a dorm with apartment-style living where she has her own bedroom.

Paige had a softball-filled summer and we had a lot of fun watching her from the bleachers. She traveled all over southeast Wisconsin with the Sussex SunDevils, mainly playing left field, but was asked to fill in as pitcher a couple times and did fantastic! Paige had her wisdom teeth out, senior portraits taken, ...yes, Paige is now a senior in high school! She's interested in studying business at UW-Oshkosh, Whitewater or Milwaukee.

Jeff has been up in our attic to install a ceiling fan in our bedroom. He's got the wiring and switch in so far. We have paint chips taped to our bedroom wall as we hope to paint it soon. Jeff still travels about once a month for business, usually Virginia. Jeff was able to see the Packers win over the Saints last Sunday invited by a vendor who also had sideline passes!

I've been working from home since February and luckily have been kept pretty busy. With school starting and more time open, I was able to sign on for some additional part-time contract work onsite at Rockwell. Hoping to upgrade my working conditions at home as my back is not happy with my current not-so-ergomically-friendly desk and chair. As a matter of fact, I'm currently in physical therapy because of this very situation. I was invited to join a group of positive ladies for Sunday Night Spa nights where we do a little yoga then discuss an area of our lives we're looking to improve based on the book, "The Happiness Project." My problem is I'm finding too many areas that need improvement!

As a family, we were able to get in a lot of events during our summer together: family reunion at the cabin, State Fair, the Zoo, Lake Geneva Mailboat Tour, Sprecher Brewery Tour, Bastille Days, shopping with Aunt Terry, extreme mini golf... All went too fast. Looking forward to all the upcoming events that fall brings!

On the way back from their month in Florida, my parents spent another weekend with us. The real draw was the St. Anthony's Fish Fry. Coincidence? I think not. Kristin, Carlo and the girls were able to come with this time, but Carlo had to report back to work afterward. The next day, Mom and I convinced Carlo to drop the girls at my house so we could take them to Hallmark for Kids Day. Kristin was going to IKEA with the neighborhood moms. Only Kristin was too sick to go! Bella and Lucy loved seeing Paige at work, getting their faces painted, making the Easter basket craft, seeing Paige, picking out stickers, seeing Paige, eating Jelly Belly treats, seeing Paige, and getting their picture with the Easter Bunny. We called Kristin afterward and she was up for coming dress shopping (for Abby's graduation and Paige's confirmation) at the mall with me and Mom for a few hours. Dad and Jeff worked to restore the birdhouse. Their reward was Final Four basketball games that night.

Relief is on its way: my last week at Readers Digest. Though I enjoy the work and walks to be had in Greendale, my freelance work is too consuming right now for me to be working another gig for 25 hours/week. I'm glad I had Readers Digest when I did because I'm still waiting for freelance payments to come in from work I've done sinze January 31st! So it all works out.

Outdoor track season began the end of March with Carroll hosting its first meet at home on March 31st. Bryn didn't compete due to a pulled large muscle in her thigh. Luckily the team had a weekend off from competition because of the Easter holiday so Bryn's looking to see where she'll be placed for this weekend vs. Wisconsin Lutheran.

Paige was more than willing to pick up Bryn from Carroll last Thursday evening as the Saunders girls came home for the Easter weekend. Abby left La Crosse after classes on Friday. Abby was able to get in some hours at Hallmark, working with Paige Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Just before Abby left for work on Saturday, the Easter Bunny (AJ) left a basket for Paige on our garage door stoop!

Abby called last week looking for help with transcribing interviews for her senior communications project. Her teachers are warning her that she's behind in this process. Abby thought maybe we (me, Jeff, Bryn, Paige) could take turns listening to the interviews and typing them in as Abby had been doing. Knowing this process wasn't working, I had to Google what's out there. I found transcription software and forwarded links to Abby to confirm that it would do what she need it to do. Ordered it in time to arrive with Abby at our home on Friday. So Friday Abby loads the disc to install, and her computer isn't running the required operating system. Poop! On top of that, there's no way to download it or run to a store and purchase it. Online we go again, but she'd have to wait til Monday to get it. We ordered it and to get something done over the weekend, we installed her dictation software on my new computer so she could try it out. She got it working, so hopefully the transition goes smoothly for her Monday back at La Crosse!

Saturday night when we were all finally together we watched Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Pretty good. And we finally got to meet Bryn's boyfriend, Tony. He came over for dinner and the movie. He's a Chemistry major, like Bryn, at Carroll.

Easter Sunday we trekked up to Appleton to Maggie's for dinner. Always too much good food! Always great to see everybody. Abby coordinated a couple of riders from the Valley to accompany her back to La Crosse. And Paige, finally on her spring break, is taking Bryn back to Carroll today.