A birthday note

A birthday note for Sonya --

Dear Sonya,
February 13th marked a very special day for our family. God gave us YOU two years ago. I still can't believe how quickly you've grown up. You're TWO already! Your vocabulary and sense of understanding overwhelms me. You're just too stinking smart sometimes, but I love it!

I love how serious you look when you're praying at dinner. I love your desire to read books and cuddle up in mom or dad's lap to have us tell you a story. I love the way you say big words like "hippopotamus" and "laundry." I love your silly laugh especially when you tell little jokes and know that you're being funny. (Your apple pie joke was the goofiest by far). I love how you help set the table and clear the dishwasher. I love the way you dance and sway to music. I love your little singing voice. I love how excited you get at the library's story time. I love how you take care of your babies -- you'll be a good mommy some day.  I love you to the moon and back. You're my Sonya Rose.

Love,
Mommy

Wrestling -- Caleb style

We had gotten a flyer from school to sign up Caleb for wrestling. At first I wasn't sure if we should have him try it, but then thought that he might like it since the first thing he wants to do when Tim gets home is wrestle. I loved that it was just 5 days of practice over 3 weeks so it wasn't too time consuming. I'm not sure if Caleb remembers a whole lot of the moves that he was taught, but I think he enjoyed himself and it was pretty amusing to watch him. :-)

Listening to instructions

Caleb and our neighbor, Marshall, wrestling

The coach is watching their technique

Caleb is getting better now

It's a toss up

Now who's winning?

Caleb is pinned down by his friend, Nick

Learning a new technique

I think it might be the half nelson

Waiting for their turn to wrestle in the ring

VIDEO: Caleb finally wins a match!

The kids and the coaches after their last practice

Painted little piggies....

Sonya finally sat still enough for me to paint her toe nails. I have yet to finish on the other foot, but couldn't resist taking a photo of her cute little piggies. 

A mini get-away

Saturday, we dropped the kids off at my parents and headed off for our mini get-away. We began our adventure by shopping in Fond du Lac -- found a few gifts for Sonya's birthday, laughed at some of the ridiculous clothes in the mall, and stopped by a furniture store to get some ideas for our bedroom. 

We got shakes at Culvers -- yum!

Then headed over to Mayville, WI

We checked in at The Audubon Inn

We stayed in Room 16 -- The Chickadee Room

Our lovely room

Sitting area

A whirlpool tub -- so nice and relaxing!

Out in the lounge area

In the stairwell

Since our reservations for dinner weren't until 6:30, we took a walk by the river. The weather was absolutely perfect for a walk.

The bridge

The frozen river

A memorial -- and a tribute to the recently fallen soldier from Mayville

We got back to the Inn with plenty of time to spare so we watched a few episodes of "Friends." haha -- It's been a while since I've seen that show. The characters just crack me up.

Dinner was lovely -- Tim had Osso Buco and I had Shrimp Scampi. Later on in the evening, we tested out the hot tub and enjoyed a few snacks that Tim brought along.

Did you know that a nightstand drawer makes a great little serving tray?

We woke up to eat a continental breakfast in the pub downstairs and took a drive through the kettles on the way back to my parents. It was just a nice time to be alone with Tim and have uninterrupted conversation and we were both awake enough to make sense out of what we were saying. I can't wait until we get to do this again. :-)

Doing Dishes with Daddy

Tim had Sonya help with dishes......

She had a BLAST!

A weekend update

I'm not very good at our day-to-day sorts of updates when I don't have photos. Even though a photo is worth a thousand words, I'll just have to improvise with my writing skills.

Last week, we signed Caleb up for wrestling at the high school. He always likes to wrestle at home with everyone so we figured maybe he could learn a few cool moves. Practice starts tomorrow so I hope he enjoys it! At least there are only 5 practices in total and it was pretty inexpensive so we can decide if it's something that he'd like to do in the future before investing in it.

The weekend was pretty low-key. Tim was at a men's conference at church on Friday night and Saturday morning. So on Friday night, the kids and I played in the snow for a bit and then came inside to drink hot chocolate and eat popcorn while watching "Beauty and the Beast." Sonya was playing with my hair throughout the movie. lol... Saturday morning, the kids and I walked over to Lincoln Elementary and went sledding until lunchtime. The weather was SO nice out. After Sonya's nap, we all went out in the snow again. I might've built a few forts. I love playing in the snow. I'm such a big kid!

Sunday consisted of church, teaching Sunday School, afternoon naps, cleaning up a few things, football, and AWANA. They say that Sunday is a day of rest. Well, other than naps, I feel like we're going all day long on Sundays.

Today, I'm pretty tired out. My chest is all congested and has felt like an elephant has been sitting on it for about a week now. Hopefully I can kick it on my own because I despise going to the doctor.

That's it for now!

Up North by Great Grandma & Grandpa Wagner

Since we didn't get to see Tim's Grandma & Grandpa Wagner for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we decided to visit them. It was like a mini Christmas celebration. We went out to eat right after we arrived on Friday night and then the kids had gifts to open once we got back to the house. Sonya's gift was a little too big and awkward to be wrapped. -- Great Grandpa built her a baby cradle. It's big enough for her to fit in! (see the photos below). I don't think she realized that it was all hers and she could take it home. Caleb received some really cool walkie talkies. He kept clipping them on his pants and walking around like he was all macho. haha... He has yet to learn the great art of communication via walkie talkie though.

Sonya sitting in her new cradle

Attempting to pose for the photo.... failed

Such a goof!

 On Saturday morning, we played some wicked games of Crazy 8's. Well, they were definitely entertaining. Later that afternoon, Tim's aunt and uncle came up from Green Bay. They brought their two girls along so that was nice for our kids to have some playmates. The kids decided to have a tea party. You should've heard Caleb talking in a high pitched girls' voice. That child cracks me up!! Sonya was loving all the attention she got. It was just really good to be able to catch up with relatives. I think the women ended up talking more since there was football on TV, but it was still quite enjoyable.

Playing cards

A tea party

Tim's cousins, Erin & Hana, with Caleb & Sonya

Another photo of the kids

On Sunday morning, we packed up our stuff before heading to church. Then we went out to eat for brunch so we could get on the road right away to try and avoid traffic in Green Bay since it was game day. We made it home with plenty of time before the Packer game. Unfortunately, it wasn't a happy ending. Poor Tim. I guess we'll have to wait a few months before they play again.

The new cradle in Sonya's room -- the babies have a nice place to sleep